Hard to Do
by Akaoujiaarron
Summary: Chell/Android!Wheatley. (Previously taken down/heavily amended. If read, rereading is recommended.) Post Portal 2 events. Chell saves Wheatley and the Space Core from Aperture. Bringing them home disrupts her life more than expected. GLaDOS' interference doesn't help things. Rated M for language. (Maybe smut. Maybe, but later)
1. Freedom and a New Prison

**Notes: Oi! I'm sorry about taking this down but I have a bad habit of never being satisfied with my work the first 12 times. Anyway you may wanna re-read there have been SERIOUS amendments. If you don't want to that's also okay because the chapters start and end in the same places you aren't really missing anything.**

* * *

The sun is blinding. She holds up a hand to shield her eyes, blinking, adjusting. Finally she can see it. What she craved, indeed fought for, for so very long, the surface. The world just outside, or more appropriately right above, Aperture Laboratories. The door she stumbled out of closes swiftly. With force enough to make her jerk forward. She whips around to face it. She expected glamour, a large, pearly white, windowless building. An Aperture logo and the door the only blemish on white washed concrete. Not this small, unassuming, rickety structure. It was red, or rather it had been red once. It's door was scuffed and dirty. The structure itself seemed to _just_ be standing on it's own. This building, this _shack_, gave no proper warning to the horrors that inhabited the place beneath her feet. Perhaps that's why She had done it.

The shed door shot open once more. It spat out a sizable something before shutting hurriedly again. She looked down. A cube, a badly charred and beaten one at that. With soft edges and warm inviting hearts in pink on all its sides. A companion cube, but not just any companion cube. It was her companion cube. She blinked away tears and threw herself on top of it, nuzzling up to it affectionately. 'God I missed you.' She thought, but that word was an understatement. Yearned was a better one. She had gone so long with no companion. No friend to speak of, well except_ him_.

She shook her head. No, he didn't count. Not anymore. She picked her precious cube from the ground and turned to take in the enormous world. The rolling fields ahead of her were vast, and relatively empty. Relatively because they were, in fact, absolutely _lousy_ with wheat. Wheat stalks as far as she could see. It was practically an infestation. She pulled a deep steady breath, calming her nerves, and took a step forward. A smile spread across her face. How long had it been since she had smiled? She didn't know, sometime in her far off forgotten past possibly. That didn't matter now. She was out! She had all the time in the world to smile now. She might even make it a habit. She took another step forward. It was still _real_. The euphoria washed over her with the same fiery intensity.

She ran, sprinted. Boots pounding the ground, cutting a path in the wheat. Holding her companion tightly she raised her head to the powder blue sky. It was cloudless and perfect. The blazing sun was sweet and balmy on her face. She grinned madly at it, she never felt so good in all her life.

Chell was _free._ Free to make her own decisions. No testing, no threat of death around every corner. No corners for death to even hide around. Only the openness and the fresh air, the gold as honey landscape, and the occasional tree. She ran until her limbs, her lungs, her very core burned and then ran some more. She couldn't put enough distance between her and that _shed_. She never had to go back. It would be just her and the cube. A mute and her companion, her friend, and their unchained new life.

* * *

Two androids floated in the vacuum of space. Manipulated silently by the gravitational pull of Earths large natural satellite. The largest robot named Wheatley, had a flair of wild, straw coloured hair. A small patch of freckles over his pale cheeks and long nose. His thinly framed rectangular glasses constantly threatened to fly away from his piercingly blue eyes. It was slightly less annoying than the way his blue tie or long gray coat floated into his face. Especially when he was pulled into a fetal position, as he was now. Bating folds of his coat away an annoying sound berated his audio receivers.

"Too much space. Gotta go to Earth. Want Eaaaaarth. Need Earth. No more space. Boring space. Let's go back. Back to Earth." The smaller robot, with tufts of curly brown hair and soft yellow eyes. Had started talking again. Complaining, actually, in that tiny, childish voice of his. It fit him, for sure. That Wheatley was sure of. He had a little childish body. Only made sense to give him a small, if somewhat wailing, vocal process to match. Though, as it were, this fact did not make it any less annoying.

Wheatley gave a heavy sigh. It wouldn't be so bad if the little guy would say something, _anything_ coherent and maybe, just possibly, having nothing to do with _space_. _Something_ that wasn't scattered ramblings about imaginary space authority figures and what was or wasn't breaking some sodding space law. Just once, it would be nice to give him a: 'Alright there mate?' and get back a: 'Alright.' or, less likely, a: 'I'm bloody furious 'cause I'm in space.'

The complaining set in rather quickly for someone who had done nothing but wax nostalgic about space back at the Enrichment Center. It was amazing how quickly the little robot, and Whealtey himself, had tired of the immense nothing, simply because it was nothing. Sure at first it had been quite the sight, awe inspiring to say the least. Though after a while it set in that space was little more than a choking black abyss with a bunch of twinkly bits set in it. The worse thing, the absolute worst thing, was the silence. Wheatley loathed the silence. That's why he could never be too irritated with the smaller robots nonsense. At least it was something.

The quiet only allowed him to plunge into the realm of his thoughts, and it was...unpleasant. Who was he kidding? It was bloody unbearable. It always went to her, his friend well former friend. The way he'd betrayed her and all of his controlling, murderous actions. The look on her face when she realized he was just like _Her_. He shuddered. Blimey how that haunted him, knotted up his circuits from his chest to the stomach he didn't have.

Not knowing what happened to her after _She_ pulled her back in the portal, letting his jump-to-the-worst-possible-scenario imagination tramps wildly all over the subject, was pure utter hell. That alone was killing him inside. He had, had the chance to save her, but still let his self-fulfilling mind go mad with power in Her place at the head of the facility. He'd tried to kill her and then left her at the mercy of that vermilion lit twat. 'Why did you stop the bloody lift?' He thought angrily. He pulled his knees closer to his chest.

She had been right that's why. She was still right. He was a twit, a... moron. He'd been too wrapped up being in charge, a massive, omnipotent, God, and it felt so good. It was quite a lot like how he expected being a God should be. Absolutely everything listened to you, didn't ask questions. Always came to you for the answers, didn't they? You could make them beg pretty please and never give them a response and they still would come groveling. For him, well, he never knew what power was like. He had only been trusted with something worthless like an empty cup or a sleeping human. So seeing everything submit to him, bow to him, had been the greatest feeling to ever pulse through his wiring. She was different though wasn't she? She never yielded. So determined, such a good jumper, test taker, his little miss smashy smash. She was ever enduring, no mater the circumstance.

Even so he found it difficult to believe she could smash her way through a fourth attempt on her life. Not right after being blown up and almost sucked into space. Odds were against her to be sure. If he could run the actuarial numbers, (Which he couldn't but even if he could he wouldn't want to know.) they would weigh heavily on 'Instant and Painful Death.' So, to stop himself from creating painful images of her dying, he talked. It was something he was rather good at, and he'd rather have imaginary conversations with her than think about the fact that she might very well be dead. As he talked to himself his yellow companion loved to give his spacey input.

"If we were having a chat, and God, I really, really wish we could. Not, not that you're not great company mate. It's just, your conversational skills are rather lacking aren't they?" "Space" "Yea, see that's what I'm talking about right there. Not very relevant, that comment, is it? I mean, I mean yea okay, we are in space so, relevant in that sense but not when you know, I'm talking about something that has nothing to do with it." "Star. Star. Star." Wheatley sighed. "Anyway I'd start with I'm sorry right? Rather than work up to it, be best to just say it first thing. Here you go. Bam. Cards on the table. I'm sorry." "Moooooooon." "Short, simple, but still doesn't quite make up for everything does it?" "Earth. Go there." "I mean after everything I did. Probably take a million apologies and then she'd still be within her right to reject me wouldn't she? I was an arse, like a right proper maniac. She had trusted me, and I..." He trailed off. Staring intently at the blue and green sphere so far out of his reach. "I deserve to be here. I buggered it all up and I deserve to float out here forever... with you." A bit of malice slipped into his words without his meaning to. "N-Not that you're a-a punishment or something mate!" He waved his hands a dry hollow laugh escaping his lips. As expected the little robot just smiled broadly and waved back. "Copilot!" He chirped affectionately. He hadn't heard a thing Wheatley had said. It was for the best honestly.

So he went back to talking to the emptiness. "She- She'd probably kill me if she saw me again anyway. Totally justified though really. S-she'd probably say... uh, well nothing, wouldn't she? Doesn't talk a lick that one. Always silent. That's what gets you. She'd look at me though, w-with that, that expression, those eyes... I- I mean if, if looks could kill, right?" He craned his head trying to see the other core that was slowly orbiting around him. A pointless move as he obviously had not listened and would not, or could not, say anything relevant even if he had. Wheatley looked anyway. Watched as the little guy spun slowly around him. He use to have a big dopey smile permanently plastered on his face. Now his expression was filled with boredom, or maybe disdain.

"Oi mate." He called. The little core didn't answer. Staring in the distance, longing for Earth, so tired of space. A thought sparked in Wheatley's mind. "Do you even have a name?" He asked more to himself than to the other. No answer. "I could name you." He half whispered. "You like, or you did like space... I could call you... something starting with an s. A sort of spacey name right? That would suit you wouldn't it?" He gave another hollow laugh. Nothing. "Come on mate say something..." he begged breathlessly. Still nothing and there would be no response until the white and yellow clad core sounded off about Earth again. Wheatley cringed at the looming silence. It was going to drive him mad. As loopy as the space core. Crush him until his whole chest caved in. Kill him slowly, and he'd deserve it. A fitting end, for a monster.

* * *

**Note: So see not really any different a few more details here and there. If only to give you a better image of the android versions of Wheatley and the Space core.**


	2. The Nightmare and New Beginnings

**Notes: Enjoy please. Do flag it up if I start getting OOC. (Not too much changed here)**

* * *

Chell tripped. For the fifth time that day. She rolled across the ground, her companion tumbling to a stop next to her. This time she didn't get up. She stared at the sky. It was a beautiful shade of fire orange with a soft purple tint. She smiled widely again. It was cooler now than it had been but still rather warm. Feasibly it was late spring or early summer. She took a deep breath of non-recycled air. This is what it was like to live, wasn't it? To truly live. She could do whatever she liked. As she thought about that her smile faded a bit. What exactly did she want to do? Well she wanted to run, but she had run. All day, nonstop, putting as much field between her and that ugly, deceiving little structure. Every time she fell she'd immediately hopped up and continued on toward the only landmark that was far enough away. The sun.

As she lied among the wheat her legs itched to keep moving. She rubbed them slowly. She was still chock full of that adrenal vapor GLaDOS used in the testing tracks. 'To maintain a constant testing cycle.' That was all well and good for Her. Though it was the only reason she had managed to run so long and so far carrying her very_ unusually_ heavy cube. She sat up and put her hand on top of it. It hummed affectionately at her touch. She stood, grabbing it and snuggling it. Then she took off again. As long as she was awake (and full of adrenaline) she was going to keep running. As long as there was enough light to see by. As long as there was still a west to run to. She would run, and never look back, ever.

As she ran the sun set and the Moon took its place. Full, bright and large as it hung just above the horizon. She trudged on staring at nothing but the large natural satellite as she moved. She was glad the few trees around where greatly scattered. She would have run into one by now. She felt totally hypnotized by its presence. As it loomed white-gray and mockingly cold. She felt her legs move faster, her stride get wider. Her breathing picked up as she clung tightly to her cube. Sprinting as fast as she could. Her heart beat so hard it was like it was trying to escape her chest.

At some point she dropped her load. It toppled off to the side as she raced past it. She thought for a moment she heard it yell to her, but she didn't turn to look. Her eyes locked on the sky. The Moon, but not exactly. It was something else. Something her mind, her heart, had seen before her eyes realized what she was looking at. It could have been a star, but why she thought, no- she knew. She knew it wasn't star. It was just a pin point of light but years of tests had trained her eyes to see the smallest of details. It was too blue, too _that_ shade of blue. It shuttered and flashed in and out of existence. The real reason she knew it wasn't is because it was, ever so slightly, drifting across the _face_ of the Moon.

She breathed heavily as she threw her whole body into her sprint. Tears began to escape her eyes. Sliding across her face and into her ears and hair. If only it was really just on the horizon. If only all her running meant _anything_. She lost her footing and fell face first to the ground sliding forward slightly from the momentum of her run. She looked up tears falling freely down her face, cutting through the dirt. She pulled her self to her knees, glaring angrily skyward. She took a deep breath, opened her mouth wide, and screamed.

A loud, rumbling, foreign noise crawled its way from her throat. It had been so long since she had used her voice for anything. Her yell rose through the cool night air, filled with frustration, pain, and _loneliness_. She cried helplessly and pointlessly at the Moon. "Why didn't you come with me?!" She started furiously. She pointed to the blue speck she _knew_ was him. "You deserve to be there! _She_ was right! Death was too good for you!" She continued to glare for a moment. Then just as quickly as it had bubbled up, her anger dissipated.

She eyed the point of light, dejected and alone. She didn't really believe he deserved a fate worse than death. (Surely being trapped in space with no chance of escape was that.) A part of her, the part that missed him even though the rest of her didn't want to. It _knew _what happened hadn't been all his fault. She should have known, seen it coming. He couldn't handle that kind of power. The fact that it had been his idea should have made her think twice. He was full of bad ideas. "No, not bad..." She mussed aloud. They were just _underdeveloped. _He acted on gut instinct and emotion alone, of course his plans were not thought through. She had been with him long enough to know that, but she still plugged him in. Instinctively entrusting him with her life. She had wondered why, but the answer was obvious. She could tell he was kind, truthful, caring. Nothing like _Her_, at first anyway.

"You could be here with me..." She whispered softly to the bright orb. Her voice come easier to her now, there was no Queen out here. No more reason to hold her tongue or emotions. She sighed, finally tearing her eyes away from the sky. She headed back to the cube. It was mumbling angrily when she got back to it. She sat down and stroked it. It mumbled a little longer then started to purr, apparently accepting her apology. "Didn't mean to drop you..." It hummed casually in response. She curled up next to it, wondering why she couldn't understand anything it said. Considering she might just be crazy with loneliness she fell into a fitful sleep.

* * *

_The floor is rocking slightly beneath her feet. In front of her is a large bottomless pit. An Excursion Tunnel. There's a platform on the other side of the room with the Super Button. She weighs the Portal Device in her hands. Reassuringly familiar. She furrows her brow determinedly. There it was, the solution. Too easy. A few cleverly placed portals and she is at the door. Cube. Button. Easy as pie. _"Ohhhh yesssss. Well done."

_His __euphoric voice rings through the room. She looks back at the large screen hanging on the wall. He __is watching her intently. With that hungry expression. Almost... no, just thinking about it disgusts her. She walks through the door. Flinching slightly at the shock from the Emancipation Grill, she walks into the lift. It moves and He __speaks again. _"Once you get to my Lair, death will not be optional, it will be mandatory. No tricks, no surprises."

_Chell looks around wildly. It's too early for this. What about all the other test chambers? The surprise trap! She looks down at her Portal Device. No potato. She's alone. The lift slows and finally stops. The doors cracks then open. The rush of air is sterile and uninviting. The room she steps out into is empty. Black and empty. No panels, cameras, tubes, no, _anything_. Just smooth black walls and floor, a soft blue glow, and... Him. He __is sitting in the throne, a grin on his face. A pincer arm reaches out for her. She dodges it and rolls across the ground. There was _something_. There was always something. _"No, no don't run, don't run!"

_She stops against her better judgment. He doesn't sound power mad. Why, He'__s plugged into Her system isn't He? The tone of His __voice though, It's like before. When He'__d still been her friend. The arm grabs her and brings her to Him. It plants her right in front of the throne __as He __nimbly jumps from the throne and walks up to her. She backs up slightly and braces herself._

"Whoa! Why are you, acting like that? Wheatley's not gonna hurt you Luv." _She furrows her brow. Why not? His __eyes look so sincere, but she can't trust that can she? She leans her head to the side. In the lift He __said living was non-optional. Right? He __looks back with a wounded expression. Shouldn't she be the one feeling that way? _"Kind of hurting my feelings acting all skittish like that."

_He's __frowning at her. She stares back with a hard expression. This doesn't make any sense, but... is it a bad thing? Tears well up in her eyes. He's back to normal. Now they could get out together. Just the two of them. The portal gun slips from her fingers to the floor. Shaking with overwhelming joy she gives him a relived smile. He __smiles back and laughs warmly. She throws herself at him, hugging him tightly laughing with him. As they laugh the glow in the room slowly stops being blue. He __cocks his foot back and kicks her portal gun away. She seizes up immediately. He __is still laughing, gripping her tightly but it's no longer warm. It is cold, dripping with malice. Just like the first time. His __electric blue eyes have that ring in them. The colour __of Her __eyes. She's lost her friend, again._

"Oh come on don't look at me like that! Can't you just once be happy for me?" _He __raises his arm and back hands her, sending toppling to the ground more than a few feet away. She slides into the wall, expelling blood violently from her mouth. She looks up blearily. He's __walked over to her. Leaning over, He's face to face with her as she tries to stand, still spitting up blood. _"All you ever do is think about yourself, what about me? What about what I want?"

_He __picks her up by the back of her shirt setting her upright. She squirms as much as her bruised body will allow, trying to break away. He __smirks at her. _"You just had to solve the tests. They weren't hard. I know your more clever than that. Being fat should impair you're testing abilities Luv."

_The insult is biting but when she cringes is at the word _love_. It had been an affectionate title. Something she had smiled at once. Now there was something horrid, almost perverted, in the way He __said it. Suddenly He __shouted at her. _"SAY SOMETHING!"

_At this point He __throws her against the wall, her head slams against it with a sick crack. More blood. She slides down the wall. This time she can't even try to stand. Her arms and legs refuse to listen to her. He __leans over her and whispers low as her vision starts to fail. _"Goodbye luv."

_Mashy Spike Plate. Sharp pain. A pool of blood-_

* * *

Chell flailed wildly for a moment and then sat up. Dripping with sweat. The air is warm around her, but she is clammy and shaking. Her cube mutters incomprehensibly next to her. She drops her head in her hands and cries, for a good ten or twenty minutes. She sniffs, wipes her eyes, and looks up. It was early morning, the Sun was behind her and making its leisurely ascent to the sky. She shielded her eyes as she continued to study the Suns position She wanted to make sure she was still headed west or at least in that general direction. She turns her attention to her cube and smiles lovingly. It had stopped muttering and sounded as though it was humming a song. At least it couldn't betray her.

This sparked a memory from her first time in The Enrichment Center. 'The Weighted Companion Cube will never threaten to stab you and, in fact, cannot speak.' That last part was probably a lie. Though it wasn't surprising, considering it came from the Queen of Lies. Her companion cube _had_ been talking when she woke up. Sure she couldn't really make out what it was saying, but it was talking. She was positive it wasn't all in her head.

Chell hoisted up her cube and began walking. She took a slow steady breath. It was nice to wake up and have it only be the next day. Rather than waking uncomfortable and not remotely rested, years from the day you'd went to sleep. As she walked her stomach gave a grumpy growl. She tried to will it into silence but it would not be tamed. When was the last time she had even eaten? She paused and set her cube down. Plopping on top of it like a seat. There was nothing around here. Just miles and miles of open land and wheat. Wheat everywhere, what in theall too real _hell_ was wheat good for? Her eyes opened wide, a sudden faded memory coming to her and she smacked herself in the forehead. Her idiocy could rival his right now. Wheat was _edible_.

She picked a wheat stalk and ate the seeds off. It wasn't the best flavor but it was all she had. So she ate until her stomach stopped complaining. It had sated her thirst somewhat as the wheat was still covered in dew from the previous night. So Chell stood and trekked, for a long time. With the same pattern each day. Wake up shaking in a cold sweat, realize she's not at the laboratories, eat some wheat, walk until the Moon is almost at its apex, and fall asleep.

The nightmare was the same basic formula every night as well. Sometimes the test is different. When she get's to his lair there might be portal surfaces, though often times there aren't. It didn't mater really he always had the upper hand His one-sided dialogue may change excluding the last to lines. He always yells at her to 'say something' and always says goodbye. Sometimes a spike plate comes down, other times it's a bomb. Or he just full on beats her to death. Then there are times when the test isn't even solvable and he kills her right then and there. On those nights she got an early start to her day. It never mattered how many time she had the dream. She always, _always_ stopped when he asked.

During her sixth day of travel at about noon, Chell noticed what looked like a small building on the horizon. As she got closer, it got bigger, and started to look more and more like, a _house_. She walked faster, It was definitely a house. She pleaded for it to not be a figment of her imagination. She needed this, _needed _for it to be real. She ran, past a damaged, no longer white, picket fence, past a broken down, beaten up truck, up a pathway, ascended the steps to the houses porch. She dropped the cube and beat frantically on the door. It shuddered and swung open. She peered inside.

A living room. It was stagnant and smelled of churned up earth and long uncleared dust. She stepped in slowly. It was messy, as though someone had broken in, and simply bumped into everything. It had probably been devoid of people for a while. It seemed who ever _had_ been living here had not moved, but rather just left in a hurry. In any case it was most definitely abandoned.

She walked over to the window next to the dust smothered couch and pulled open the curtains. The light struggled to shine through the grime caked glass. At least it was a little brighter. She turned and walked past the sofa to a short staircase. An upper floor. It would be worth a look after she finished searching this floor. She walked past it, through the adjacent doorway, a kitchen. The shades were drawn in here too. She leaned over the sink and opened them. She could see the side yard from here. She turned to the ice box. Mentally crossing her fingers. She opened it. There was no food in it and it was not cold but there were several jugs of water.

She almost cried. pulling one out and ripping the top off. She chugged it greedily. When she stopped to gasp for breath she quickly recapped it. She only had these for now. It had not rained all the time she had traveled. So she had no reason to think she'd be getting rain water anytime soon. She had to ration, be frugal. At least until she could find a town. She knew there was one around. No one would build a house in the middle of no where. Even if it was a few miles off there was definitely a town somewhere. She rummaged through the cabinets and was secretly glad the people had been in a hurry. There was small supply of canned food. If she ate right, it could last a few days at least. That was more than enough time to find the town. She left the kitchen and went back to the front porch. Her cube tittered happily and she brought it in shutting the door. She sat it on the couch and apologized for how dirty it was. Then she moved upstairs.

There were three bedrooms, and a bathroom. Two of the rooms apparently belonged to children of differing ages, the third, adults. The parents presumably. The woman who had occupied the room had left without most of her clothes. They were a little big, but they were_ perfect_. She picked out a red short sleeve shirt and a pair of shorts. They were a little stale, but did not hold an odor. They had possibly been washed before the people had left. They were better than the sweat soaked, grime riddled, blood spattered jumpsuit and tank top she wore. Happily she peeled them off. It felt so amazing to be out of them. Better than anything.

She discarded the orange jumpsuit and Long Fall Boots in a corner of the room. She trounced down the stairs feeling rather invigorated. Not being in those sick, filthy reminders of where she had once been was like lifting a weight off her shoulders, so she resolved to clean up. This place was such a God-send, so she might as well make it inhabitable. She located a closet on the other side of the stairway and found a broom. There was also a small electrical object with a hose that ended in a flat rectangular brush. The hose was connected to a small oval object. A 'vacuum' her mind filled in hazily, but seeing as there was no power it was ridiculous to even consider pulling it out. She pulled the curtains down in the sitting room and kitchen, where she also found various cleaning chemicals. She opened the door and windows and started.

By the time she finished the sun was beginning to set, but it was brighter and considerably less suffocating inside. She had found many helpful and interesting items during her tear through of the lower floor as well. Pens, pencils, pads of paper, candles, books, tape, lighters, fireplace matches, scissors, various tools, an oil lantern half full of oil, and three flash lights. Two of which still worked. She could head out tomorrow and find batteries, among other things. She made a mental note to keep an eye out for a source of power as well. She had noticed a water heater in the bath room upstairs. The thought of having a real warm bath was rather inviting. She parked herself on the now much cleaner sofa next to her cube. She stared at the empty fireplace. She could do one more thing before the sun went down for good and her muscles realized they were too tired to do anything else.

She stood and walked to the staircase. There was a short hallway behind it with two doors. One was a bathroom with a toilet but no shower or bath. The other a back door. She opened the door and her mouth fell open. It was rather over grown and un-maintained but there was no mistaking that it was a garden. There were fruits an vegetables beginning to flower and bud haphazardly all over the yard. She rested all her weight on the door frame so she didn't fall to her knees. Leaving Aperture had been the best thing she had ever done. There was a small shed with numerous things in it. Among them was an ax. She took it and looked around. There were trees farther off but none close enough or small enough. There was however a chopping block, and there was still some pieces of wood.

She regarded the pile for a second. They were small yes but not small enough. Well she did have an ax. Feeling a bit like a natural at being in the real world she placed a piece on the block and started chopping. A little later she had a decent pile of appropriately sized wood. Even if they were cut rather lopsided. It was much harder to cut right through the wood first time than she'd thought. She hauled it in, placed it in the fireplace, threw some paper in and lit them. The wood was very dry and caught fast. She pulled the blankets from the two children's bedrooms and curled up on the sofa with her cube. That night she fell in to a very restful sleep.

* * *

Chell sat up shaking violently. That had been a rough dream. She ambled around the house. Preparing to set out in search of a town. She ate, and found a rucksack. Found a small container, and filled it with water. Packed a flashlight, a switch blade. Blew a kiss to her companion cube, and told it to watch the house. Laughing lightly at her joke. She closed the door and walked off the porch.

To the left of the house was a dirt road. It went on a few yards and then descended rather suddenly. She arranged her pack more comfortably and started down it. When she reached the top of the hill she looked down. It wasn't as steep as it had seemed, but that fact was the last thing on her mind. The hill was maybe a mile long and at the bottom was a town. Unlike the house she had just set up shop in, this town was not abandoned. It had the appearance of being devoid of any life sometime in the past, but with a few scaffolds and hasty repairs, was now being lived in. By at least thirty or forty people. Tears sprung up in her eyes and she quickly blinked them away. She had to stop resorting to crying. She was stronger than that. To prove it to herself she shot down the hill. In no time at all she was on the edge of the town.

There was a roughly built sign that read: Welcome to Havan. She smiled broadly up at it, and looked into the town. There were three children staring at her. She smiled as warmly as she could. A small girl with an oddly patterned sweater smiled back at her. The oldest looking of the three, a boy with an untamed afro puff of red hair and more freckles than his face should have able to accommodate gave her a broad toothy grin. Several of his them were missing. He turned on his heel and ran. Yelling loudly. "Dad we have another one!" She instinctively took a step back. Despite her minds urging to move closer. Why was she being so hesitant?

The little girl and the third child, a boy younger than the other but older than the girl, moved closer to her. The little girl was braver than the boy and walked right up to her. She had short blonde hair decorated with an assortment of colourful bows. It matched well with her odd sweater which looked more crazy and slapped together the longer she looked at it. The girl smiled and waved. Chell waved back slowly. "You're very pretty. Are you a angel?" She blushed and shook her head trying not to laugh. What an odd sweet thing to say. The girls comment reminded her strongly of the murals on the walls of the dens in the various openings to the backstage of Aperture. "Lady?" The little girl called. Chells breath caught.

She flinched, backing up, mentally folding in on herself. Being called 'Lady' was so (unsurprisingly) stressful. It instantly reminded her of Him. The thing she'd been trying to push away and forget. She'd had her out burst that first night out of the Laboratories. That was it, all she'd allow herself. She had enough problems with the nightmares. She didn't want to be reminded during the day. "Lady, are you OK? Can't you talk?" She nodded and found her voice quickly. "Yes, I'm Chell." That should end the 'Lady' business. The little girl smiled happily, both her front teeth were missing. "My name is Amelia! It's nice to meet you! You have a pretty-full name!"

She laughed openly this time. "I like yours too." Amelia grinned again. Chell looked up and saw two almost identical men coming toward her. Both had a million freckles, a mop of red hair, and bright green eyes. However one was much broader and older than the other, who appeared to just be in his thirties. Again she instinctively set up her guard. The older man smiled reassuringly putting up his hands in surrender in response to her reluctant body language. "I was sure my son was lying when he said we had another wanderer in our midst." She smiled lightly. Looking back and forth between the two men. The younger man was probably his son as well. The older man continued. "We don't get them often." She looked at the ground, her voice box still holding itself shut. She didn't mean to intrude. "You are very welcome here though." She looked up. The son had spoken this time. He was smiling brightly holding his hand out to her. "Name's Aedin. The huge guy with me is my dad Seamus." He said nodding in his father's direction. She smiled back, and took his hand relishing the first real human contact since, _ever_. "Chell."

* * *

**Notes: Ah people! I thought for a moment about leaving her alone but I can put Wheatley in more hilarious situations if there are other humans. I write it all around Wheatley, I swear I do. 3**


	3. Pyrotechnic Projectile?

**Note: More Wheatley babble! Ah, well kind of, he doesn't ****_really _****talk that much in the chapter. Ah but again enjoy I would like reviews. First Portal fic and all that. Oh I hope you don't mind the space cores name. I was gonna do like a moon or like "Apollo" right but then I thought what does Wheatley know about space? Probably, most likely _nothing_ but at least it starts with an "s" like he planed.**

* * *

"I'm going _mad_ Spencer. Proper mad- _Loony_. This is too much I can't- I can't be here anymore." "Earth." "Exactly! That's what I want mate! Why the hell do humans even want to come up here? There's nothing! Nothing! It's _pointless_!" "Want Earth." "I mean it's freezing up here for starters. You literally can't hear yourself talk! I mean the only reason we can hear each other is because were bloody robots isn't it?" "Tired of stars" "You know you'd think being robots we have some sort of rockets. Aren't- aren't robots suppose to have rockets or, or am I... Am I making that up?" "Tired of Moon." "T-that sort of thing only happens in books doesn't it?" "Copilot." "What is it, mate?" "Space." "I know, I flipping _hate_ space. Space can sod off for all I care." "COPILOT!"

Wheatley turned his head. Why was Spencer shouting all of a sudden? The little androids body was shaking and he was staring at a point to the far left of Wheatley. "What is it?" Wheatley asked with more urgency. The robot he'd affectionately dubbed Spencer gaped, his eyes as wide as they could go. Absolute dread written all over his face. Finally he found what he wanted to say, or rather shout. "ASTEROID!" Wheatley squinted at him. "Wha?" He turned as best he could to see where Spencer was pointing. Once he focused, he instantly understood the need to shout. There wasn't just one though. There were several _sizable_ meteors shooting though the vast expanse of space.

"Oh... Bollocks." They were heading straight at them at an alarming speed. Of all the vast emptiness, those things had to be heading right to him and Spencer. He let out a low guttural sort of noise. He couldn't just slowly rot out here could he? No! He was gonna get smashed to death by a meteor! "Well I hope your happy you vermilion twat!" Wheatley shouted angrily toward Earth. "I'm about to be crushed to death and I never got to talk to her! I bet you'd think this was bloody hilarious!" Wheatley's voice began to break. His emotions all bubbling forth at once. "All I wanted was just one minu- w-well not one minute, maybe a couple of minutes so I could apologize properly. Still, you couldn't give me that could you?! BLOODY FUCKING SPACE! I'm gonna die and she has no idea how I feel about her!"

He glanced back at the asteroids. They were already much closer. "Bloody space." Wheatley muttered helplessly. He and Spencer floated in silence for a while. A small meteor shot between them. "Well this is it isn't it? Were going to die and then there will be nothing, forever." A voice rang in his head. It sounded like the Announcer from Aperture.

"_The Enrichment Center once again reminds you that android hell is a real place."_

"I'm- I'm pretty sure that's a lie." He said in a shaky unsure voice. Two more asteroids whizzed past. It was odd to watch them fly by with no sound, no warning. They were just suddenly whooshing next to and dangerously close to his face. A particularly large one clipped Spencer in the back, pushing him into Wheatley. He grabbed him, holding him tightly to his chest. "You alright there mate?" Spencer was shaking from head to toe. His eyes were darting around, watching the asteroids as they went past. "Well, I'm sure death won't be that bad." Wheatley tried to reassure him, in a grim, unconvincing voice. "Don't like space. Bad space. Bad. No space." Wheatley looked down sadly at the little robot. Not only was he built exactly resembling a child of five or six, but he acted like, and understood about as much, as one as well. With a limited vocabulary. Obsession, awe, and fear of the unknown.

Spencer was pretty oblivious but he understood full well that they were in danger now. If he could sustain coherent linear thoughts for even two full minutes at a time, Wheatley suspected he would seriously regret disconnecting himself from the facility to fly off into space. That egotistical bloke Rick, (Wherever he flew off to.) had been too close to save himself. However Spencer and that crazy fuchsia guy(whose nonsense certainly rivaled Spencer's.) Had been shielded by Wheatley's body and throne. They'd had a chance to cling to wires connecting them to the system. The incorrect fact guy had been the only one of them to stay behind. "Lucky sod." Spencer started to scream loudly as the bulk of the asteroid cluster was upon them. Wheatley shut his eyes and clung to his friend tightly. "It'll be over soon, it'll be over soon, it'll be over soon, it'll be over soon."

There was nothing. For a second Wheatley thought they were dead but he could still feel the little core squirm in his arms. Hear him screaming. Why weren't they dead? Wheatley opened his eyes slowly. "Not trying to be ungrateful. Or, or, what do humans say? Tempt... fate? Is that it? Seriously though not doing that alright really but... how in the _bloody hell_ did we live through th-"

Though of course, fate was cruel. Fate did not enjoy being questioned, but most of all fate _hated_ unfinished business.

Before Wheatley finished his question, a meteor a little larger than his head collided roughly with his side. He cried out in anguish, pain shooting through his receptors. Hit with incredible force, he and Spencer went careening through the void. Droplets of luminescent blue fluid trailed behind them. Just as Wheatley thought they were slowing down he could feel and odd sensation. Like a _pulling._

It was light at first. He looked around. Was it him or was Earth getting bigger? Planets didn't grow did they? He turned his head to look at the Moon. Smaller. Okay, so it was not at all plausible that the Earth and Moon were simultaneously growing and shrinking, so it had to be something else. "It... knocked us outta the Moons orbit..." Wheatley gasped. The space core was clinging tightly to his lab coat. "W-We're getting pulled to Earth!" He stammered happily. Spencer's head shot up. "Earth?!" "Yea! Were going back to Earth Spence! We're- Oh, oh, oh wait. I don't think I've thought this through properly. What if this hurts?" He gave a nervous laugh. "What if it really hurts? I-I don't know if we're built to withstand atmospheric re-entry." The Announcers voice shot into his head again.

"_All Aperture technologies remain safely operational up to four thousand degrees Kelvin."_

"Okay that, that is rather good to know. So aside from what I'm assuming will be the worst pain imaginable. We will still be alive, to uh... to, crap... Okay not to alarm you Spencer, but I think there is a minor chance that we will die on impact to Earths surface. Do you, understand what I'm saying? If you do, try not to be _too_ alarmed, as I said. I- I do think that there is _something_ we can do, um, to not die horrifically." Wheatley scanned through his programming and digital manual frantically looking for anything that could stop them from crashing with enough force to smash them to bits.

"Something, something, no, no ugh, no that's not helpful at all. No, no..." He felt himself starting to shake as much as Spencer. Or was that them breaking through the atmosphere? Spencer's loud shouting was not helping him focus. "Oh, oh my God! Here's something, about, atmospheric re-entry, actually. Oddly specific that..." Not in a position to tempt fate again he read through it.

_In the event of being hurtled into space, the Aperture Industries Space Exploration Initiative reminds you to _NEVER _attempt to re-enter Earths atmosphere without Aperture Regulation Re-Entry Gear including, but not limited to:_

_Advanced Knee Replacements_

_Fire Retardant Wear such as:_

_Jumpsuit_

_Gloves_

_Boots_

_Head Encasement Glass_

_and Portable Pyrotechnic Projectile Attachment_

_Please consult with a superior and take care to bring all above mentioned material with you into space. Remember, un-burned, non-maimed scientists are vital to the continuation, of Science!_

"Alright I really have no idea what that last thing in the list was. What the hell is a pyrotechnic projectile?" "Rocket!" "A rocket?! I knew I wasn't just making that up." He gave a loud short laugh. "Now let's see if this body has any." He tried to push down the fact that Spencer had just directly answered him. He could marvel at that when they weren't falling to their death and everything wasn't getting _painfully_ hot. He searched through the entire document pertaining to space relations and re-entry.

_If equipped with Aperture Industries Portable Pyrotechnic Projectile Attachment please link up to a Regulation Aperture Superior to initiate start-up protocols._

"Ah what!? You have got to be kidding me! How do I even know I have it, and how do they expect me to _link_ to a supervisor if I'm in bloody space!?"

_Please activate your Stress Location Beacon and await verification._

"Stress locating beacon? Okay, okay, beacon, beacon, ah here it is!" Everything on him burned. God he wished Spencer would shut up. He was trying to save them over here.

"_Stress Location Beacon activated."_

A tiny red light behind Wheatley's eyes flashed to life and started blinking, causing his vision to turn red every time it flickered. He blinked rapidly. "Wow that, that is rather annoying." As it blinked a terrible thought surfaced. "Wait uh, what if... what if this links me to Her? I mean She's, She's the only supervisor isn't She? There is absolutely no one else down there to receive this beacon, is there?" _"__Wow I guess you aren't as stupid as you look. For the record you look _incredibility_ stupid." _Wheatley's blood (Or rather the blue coolant in him that acted as blood) ran cold. That voice, that tone was unmistakable.

"Oh crap, crap! Turn off, turn off, turn off, turn off!" The blinking in his vision stopped. _"__And just like that you make me regret complimenting you at all. I already linked up to you idiot. Turning of the beacon does not turn off the link. Only I can do that. Being your superior and everything." _Wheatley shuttered. He never wanted to hear Her again, defiantly not speaking directly into his head. "A-Alright well if you could um, if you could j-just turn it off then. That- that would be great." GLaDOS hummed softly. _"__You turned on the Stress Beacon because you were in stress. _Right_?" _Wheatley's throat felt really dry, even though it had never been wet to begin with. "A-Actually, actually, here's the thing right. Everything is uh, fine. Yes all fine here now. Not in stress, not distressed in any way. Uh, just having a bit of a lie down really." He choked out. Trying to lie through pain was impossible and he wasn't a good liar to begin with.

_"__It says here you're plummeting to Earth at incredible speed, but you're right that's nothing to worry about." _Something popped right next to his ear. Then again, till the popping was so rapid it was like someone rolling over bubble wrap with a steam roller. Then it happened. Wheatley, Spencer, and all the debris they had dragged with them out of space _ignited_ turning them in to a literal fireball. Wheatley screamed in pain. Spencer, who was already screaming, simply elevated his screeches to glass shattering pitch. Wheatleys glasses cracked. _"__Look, while I am enjoying hearing you in intense, unbearable pain, I do have a _lot _of work to do. Why don't you just tell me what you want?"_

He tried to answer but could do nothing but scream at this point. There was nothing like this pain. _Nothing_. _"__Hmm? What was that? I'm not _quite _hearing you. Must be all the screaming on your end." _Wheatley gritted his teeth. He was suffering enough with Her antagonizing comments. He mustard all his strength and managed to shout out one word. "R-ROCKET!" GLaDOS laughed coldly. _"__Are you _sure _you don't to smash to a million pieces? It might be a lot fun." _They had just broken the sound barrier. The ground was racing up at them. "TURN THEM ON!" Wheatley wailed painfully. _"__Well _fine. _Since I am obviously the better person here and you asked _SO _nicely. I'll do this one thing for you."_

"_Verification complete. Pyrotechnic Projectile activated."_

Something in Wheatley's upper back groaned in distress and popped out forcefully, ripping through his clothes. The rocket ignited instantly, jerking Wheatley up, then forward violently. He was just awake enough to not completely lose grip on Spencer, who was limp and no longer screaming bloody murder. They shot through the air over miles and miles of empty golden landscape. The rocket sputtered and died, but their momentum was enough to skid them to a halt right out side of a very old unassuming had-once-been-red tool shed. The door swung open and something rather large cast a shadow over their limp bodies. Wheatley tried to open his eyes but couldn't and instead passed out just in time to hear the robot speak to him.

"Thank you for assuming the Party Escort Submission Position."

GLaDOS watched with calm calculation as the two limp robots were pulled inside Her Facility. Yes, this could work out rathernicely.

* * *

**Note: Ohh! Cliff hanger?! I'm terrible at those you know. Be excited it magically happened. Cause I'll tell you that was magic. Nothing more magical than an android firework! Also if you noticed first F-BOMB! I say first and I'm not sure I mean last but that IS why I rated it M. Ah If you can't tell I love it when Wheatley says twat. I also like the word vermilion. It a more sinister orange than just... orange don't you think? Okay in all honesty I sent them to Aperture just to say 'party submission position' I don't think this plan will pan out in the epic way I want it to. I had fun thinking of a stupid needless name for rocket though so enjoy that!**


	4. At the Drop of a Hat

**Note: I'll be honest I have a lot of this written up already so. Probably wont take long. I mean it's not finished but I've got a few chapters and well, plenty of pages of it down waiting to be amended and spell checked. So enjoy this, we have roughly seven or eight days of travel to log. (honestly that bit will probably be like two paragraphs long at best.) Any who enjoy!**

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Chell rolled over in her bed. Still recovering from her nightmare. She slid to the edge and swung her feet over. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and yawned. She heard another yawn just after. Her cube. It had taken to mimicking her like that as if it had actually gone to sleep with her. She smiled happily at it. It was pretty adorable, for an inanimate object. She watched it a second longer then stood up. As she did it caught her attention again. Was it... Shuddering? She walked up to it staring hard. It _was _shaking. The longer she watched the harder it shook, till the whole floor was vibrating. Then it stopped, hissed and a small port opened up on its side. What looked like a small camera popped out but that was exactly what it was.

It flickered into life displaying a rather large picture on the wall. Of _Her. _Chell gasped and stumbled backward knocking her lamp off the night stand. The image grinned evilly and laughed, slow, cold and emotionless. She was sitting in Her throne in the middle of Her chamber. _"__Oh, it's just not the same hearing you panic without seeing the fear in your eyes, unfortunate really." _Chell slid to the floor, She _couldn't _see her? Morbid curiosity pulled her forward till she was sitting right next to the cube. _"__As nice as it is to hear your voice again I'm afraid we have cut _our _little_ _reunion short." _The camera view swiveled around to the side of Her.

Chell gasped again putting her hand over her mouth to block the sound. Being held upright by two small robotic arms was, Wheatley. They hung him up by the wrist, his feet barely touched the ground. He was dirty and looked burned. His head was down, his normally wild hair looked even worse. He was wearing no shirt and Chell could see his chest rise and fall erratically. He had the distinct look of a torture victim. _"__It's been such a long time why don't we reintroduce ourselves?" _The sound of cracking electricity filled the air and Wheatley's body contorted in a disturbing manner. He screamed in anguish. A pitch and tone that emitted from his vocal processor was horrid and un-achievable by any human voice.

_"__What's your name Moron?" _He huffed heavily, his voice broken and unsteady. "N-not a, a m-moron..." The electricity crackled again. _"__Now, now that's not what I asked." _His head dropped and he yelled. "W-Wheatley! It's Wheatley..." Chell watched in horror. She could tell he didn't understand why She was asking him that. _"__Well, well Wheatley this is Chell. Oh, wait, you never_ did_ bother to learn her name did you? Quite content to just call her _Lady _as I recall_."Wheatleys head shot up, his eyes wide. Chell saw him mouth the word: 'Lady?'_ " Well _Lady_ this is Wheatley but of course you're just smarter than him to have figured that out." _Chell clenched her jaw and her fists tightly. _"__Now _Moron _why don't we tell her the nature of our call?" _A twisted smile spread on Her lips. Shocked again Wheatley spoke quickly. "Lady! Chell... I-I'm in Aperture! I-I mean I guess you can tell, w-why else would _She _be here-" She could see sparks fly out of gashes in his synthetic skin as his body convulsed again. She slammed her fists into the floor tears falling. Why wouldn't She stop that?

_"__Hey, Moron, let's not get off topic." _He spoke again, his mouth thick with a strange blue fluid. "Y-You have to come save me. I-I need your help. _S-She's killing me!_" Chell squinted, this was torture for her to witness but she continued to watch. For some reason he sound like he was reciting a pre-written message. "S-So if you're not _terribly _busy you could p-pop by here uh work your 'robot killing _magic' _a-and..." His voice trailed, he shot a weary look at GLaDOS and suddenly began shouting at high-speed. "Look forget what I said! Don't come okay? It's a trap! She'll just kill us both if you come and if it's all the same to you, I'd rather one of us li-aaaaAAAAAUUUUUGGGHHHH!" The camera faced GLaDOS again but She wasn't facing it. _"__Oh you will _regret _that you little idiot!"_

The picture fizzled then shut off. Chell leaped at the wall pounding it angrily. She bowed her head her shoulders shuddered as she fought back more tears. After a few moments she wiped her eyes and ripped through her house collecting her rucksack and shoving everything of importance in it. Essential supplies, food and water to last her a little over two weeks. She threw on her long fall boots and ran out, down the road and into town.

She shot through the doors of the general shop run by her now good friend, Aedin. He smiled and waved. "Hey Chell what's the rush?" She slammed a bit of money on the counter. "I need explosives." She said simply and sternly. "Uh okay can I ask what for?" She stared him down steely gaze unwavering. He could never disobey that look. "Alright, well do you need fuses?" She shook her head and tucked her C-4 away safely. She went to walk out and without turning around spoke to him. "Water my plants." Aedin raised his eyebrows. "What? Wait, where are you going? Chell? Chell!" She left and took off again. Up the road past her house and out into the wheat field. She ran due east, back toward the thing she had never wanted to see again. The entrance to Aperture Laboratories.

* * *

"...if it's all the same to you, I'd rather one of us li-aaaaAAAAAUUUUUGGGHHHH!" Wheatey screamed as electricity coursed through his body. All his pain receptors fired off at once. The shock was just under the voltage amount that would fry his internal system. More than enough to do almost irreversible damage. The chassis throne turned to him. GLaDOS gave him a sick smile as she yelled. _"Oh you will _regret_ that you little idiot!" _Wheatley was in too much pain to notice the smile She gave. He had been wrong before. He'd rather experience atmospheric re-entry a thousand times than suffer through one more of those electric jolts.

Wheatley huffed pained (but pointless) breaths. A broken but still noticeably triumphant laugh rose from him. GLaDOS glared. _"What do you find so funny moron?" _She turned from him. "_If you say her impending demise I maybe have to shock you for being so cruel." _He growled "I-I, ruined your plan, s-she knows now... s-she wont come... you lose..." He spat with as much disgust he could manage. GLaDOS turned to him again, smiling in her twisted way. _"__I know you're too stupid to understand this but you actually did _exactly _what I wanted you to do." _He stared at her confused with a bit of horror. She gave a loud obvious sigh. _"__There's no way she can resist coming to save you knowing I'm torturing you, especially now that you told her _not _to." _Wheatley looked down at the floor. "Y-You're wrong she... she doesn't care about me..." He watched his luminescent blue 'blood' drip to the pearl white tiles. As much as it hurt he really hoped, for her benefit, she could never forgive him. "Please... please don't come..."

* * *

Halfway through her food supply, Chell stood face to face with the door. Her hand hovered above the handle. She had promised herself to never come back here. Even _if _she hadn't been told this was a trap it was obvious. It was one step away from having _trap_ written all over it. She couldn't let him suffer though. No matter what he had done he really didn't deserve this. It was just needlessly cruel.

She pulled open the handle. It swung open easier than expected. She sighed and stepped into the lift. It shuddered and began to descend. She closed her eyes and dropped her pack to the floor. 'I hope she isn't expecting me to bring fire to Hell.' She mused as she pulled out her plastic explosives from Aedin. She had molded them in to small cubes and linked them together with all the fuse she had. She had _one_ shot, and she prayed she got it right. The element of surprise was her biggest weapon now. If she could get the upper hand she could decommission the Queen long enough to drag Wheatley out of there.

The lift began to pass by the now dead Turret Opera that had sung her that strange song the day she left. She pulled her pack back on and sighed heavily. Five months. Five wonderful months of pure _freedom _and she had come running right back at the drop of a hat. Back for him. For someone who had tried to_ kill_ her. The someone who plagued her dreams every night. The reason why she still could not have a good nights rest. Was she really willing to potentially ruin, or more likely _end,_ her life just for _him_? Willing to be killed or worse _tested _just because that Moron was suffering? 'You're here aren't you?' So yes then. She sighed loudly, why did she even care?

_"__Just when I had thought you were smart enough to stay away." Her_ cold cynical voice filled Chells ears. She instinctively lost all expression from her face. Steeling her gaze and forgetting her voice. She would never give that _bitch_ a reaction, never. _"__Like always my plan worked perfectly." _Wheatleys fear riddled voice boomed over GLaDOS'. "What are you doing?! We're you even _LISTENING _to me when I said: 'This. Is. A. _Trap_!?'" Chell clenched her fists, trying not to give him an evil look. If he didn't shut up she would leave him here to rot after she killed GLaDOS. He could try to appreciate the fact the she was probably going die trying to save him. The lift finally reached the floor of the chamber. _"__I'll give him that you are a horrible listener. It's even written in your files." _Chell waited patiently (and a little anxiously) for the monologues to end.

Wheatley dropped his head helplessly. Why did she come? Why did she care what happened to him? "I-I told you... I told you not to come..." He mumbled to the puddle blue liquid on the floor. GLaDOS clapped her hands together. _"__Well why don't we just get this over with? I must say I never imagined you'd missed testing as much as I do." _Out of the floor a podium rose with the Dual Portal Device sitting on it._ "So why don't you waddle on out of the elevator and come clam your favorite toy."_ Chell scoffed inwardly. She didn't miss those fat jokes. She braced herself for what she was about to do. Behind her back she gripped her length of C-4 and a lighter. She just needed the elevator door to open. If she moved quickly enough She wouldn't have a chance to retaliate.

With a soft hiss and a rush of sterile air she was let into the chamber. Wheatley tried again to reason with her. "Run away Chell! I don't know what your thinking but whatever it is nothing is worth getting trapped down her with _Her_! I don't need saving alright? Just make a run for-AUGN!" Shocks coursed though his body like white-hot fire. His head dropped and his blood pooled. That had been stronger than the others.

Though his failed attempt to make her run had been a perfect distraction. As GLaDOS turned to punish him she ignited the fuse to her wire of bombs. She heard the noise and turned too late. _"__What are you doing?" _Chell had already thrown the bomb wire up at a high point on the throne She couldn't reach. She ran to cover behind Wheatley. The bomb rope lodged itself in the wiring. "What did _you do?" _They asked her in unison. Chell looked at GLaDOS and smirked mouthing the word 'boom.' She looked up at the C-4 stuck on her chassis. The fuse wasn't long, before She could react properly the bomb went of with several loud **bangs**. GLaDOS was expelled from Her throne, which came crashing loudly out of the ceiling.

Chell quickly produced a blade and ran over to the fallen Queen. Too weak to retaliate and no longer connected to the system She was helpless. Chell jumped on Her pinning Her to the ground with her knee. She raised her blade over Her chest. She may not be a real human anymore but if there was one thing Chell knew how to do it was kill robots. Three mostly successful battles in this room gave credit to that. GLaDOS laughed weakly. _"__You don't have the-" _Wrong, Chell found herself was all to willing to kill her. She plunged her blade into the Queens chest who sputtered and sent shocks through her body. She gritted her teeth and endured the pain and the ear-piercing shrieks GLaDOS emitted. Bringing the knife back out to drive it back in. Orange-red fluid spilled from Her mouth and wounds, soaking Her and Chell in the heavy liquid. After the third blade penetration the screams stopped. Her eyes flickered and shut off.

Chell panted heavily and rolled off the dead android. She sat on her hands and knees trying to catch her breath. Knowing Her track record, this was no more permanent than last time. She needed to get them out _now _before the nanobots set to work. She stood and faced the reason she had come. He stared at her with wide unbelieving eyes. "Y-You, _She's_..." Chell forced down a smile. Wheatley speechless? She really did just kill the ruler of hell. She walked over to him and raised her orange blood covered knife. He gave a small shout shutting his eyes. "L-Look I-I know I deserve it but please _please don't kill me!"_ Chell rolled her eyes and cut him down. He dropped to the floor, his legs buckling instantly. He had _zero _strength. That was fine she needed him to not move while she pulled all the cords from the flesh coloured ports in his back. As well as keeping him tethered to the spot she figured they had been what was shocking him. She heard him give a small relieved noise when the last one was out.

She helped him up and he leaned all his weight on her. She shifted him trying to distribute his weight so she wouldn't drop him. It was tempting, he was heavy and not supporting himself at all. His eyes wavered unfocused. She snapped her fingers getting his attention. "Eh... wha?" She prodded his chest, then tugged at her own shirt. He seemed to understand though it was hard to tell since his eyes were barely open. "W-With... S-Spenc-er..." He said slowly. She made what she hoped was a questioning hand gesture. He pointed weakly to the far wall. She moved over to it and he pushed off her. Using the wall to support himself he felt along the panels, looking for something. "It's gotta be... here somewhere..." He muttered. He had watched Her open one and shove the sacred babbling Spencer into the secret panel. Finally one reacted to his. It swung open and a brown-haired boy ran out. He was small, just under five feet and just as dirty and singed looking as Wheatley. Wearing a white and yellow hooded sweater and ripped gray slacks tucked into black moon boots with a bold yellow line going down either side. Chell recognized him from her last venture in here. Though she did not recall him being named Spencer. The little robot ran in to Wheatley knocking him to the ground. He groaned in pain but smiled through it. "G-Good to... see you too... mate."

Chell walked into the small room and shoved a long grey coat, a blue tie, a grey vest and some odd blue glass half-orb in her pack. She picked Wheatley back up, grabbing the small robot sharply by his hood. She could appreciate a good reunion but now was not even _remotely _the time for one. She dragged them to the lift and leaned Wheatley against it. She looked around trying to figure out how to open it and get it moving. Wheatley slid along the glass to the control panel next to it. "H-Hack it..." He mumbled. Chell shook her head. There had to be another way. His hacking 'abilities' were sub par, at best and always led to disaster. He tried to give her a smile. "S'alright... Luv..." She wasn't sure about that. His slurred words didn't make it any better. "A, D, F, G, T, M." A soft ping noise sounded and the lift opened. First try. Was he too damaged to even be a moron? "Off wegoo..." She shoved the wriggling little robot named Spencer in and grabbed Wheatley. He slammed his finger on the zero key and ambled inside with her.

She was not particularly comfortable with him being so close to her but there was no other option. The lift was a very small. It was obviously a one person lift and he was weak and badly damaged. This close she could see all the gashes in his fake skin. Some were still sparking. He rested his head on hers, slipping in and out of consciousness. She'd forgotten how much taller than her he was. His form totally dwarfed hers making it that much harder to support him. Finally the lift reached the surface. Spencer shot into the wheat field shouting: "Earth!" at the top of his lungs. As she and Wheatley walked out of the shed she thought about leaving them both. He was too weak to follow and she had a feeling Spencer would stay close by him. She could run away, he was out and probably just needed a rest or whatever robots did to recuperate. By the time he did she could be long gone, and he'd have no way to find her.

She leaned him against the shed door and pulled a compass out of her pocket. She studied it looking at the sky then back at it. Wheatley slid to the ground and watched her. "C-Chell." She turned. Scrutinizing him. She _could_ run. Right now. He turned his head unable to meet her relentless gaze. "I-I wanted... to..." She sighed and turned to him fully. Preparing herself for the onslaught of word vomit she knew was coming. "I-I'm so sorry!" He blurted, finally looking at her. "A-And not, not just for bringing you back here! I-I mean everything! I never wanted to hurt you Luv! I _NEVER_ wanted to hurt you! You were my mate! My _only_ mate besides Spencer! It was torture out there!" He gestured feebly to the sky. "All I could think about was what I did to you! Then She!_" _He shuddered. "She _replayed_ all the hurtful things I said to you! All while we were waiting for you to come!" Chell sniffed, trying with all her might to not react to his apology. Even though it was something she wanted to hear more than anything.

"W-Why did you come?" She eyed him for a moment then turned away she wasn't going to answer that anytime soon. He didn't need and answer and she honestly did have one. She had no idea why she came. She absolutely refused to entertain any of the reasons pin-balling around her head. She put her compass in her pocket and stared at the smaller, more energetic robot. He was rolling around on the ground ripping up wheat stalks. Space must have been pretty torturous if even someone so obsessed with it was this excited to be back on solid ground. "You... You didn't have to..." Came his feeble voice again. She sighed. Of course she had to. Space was hell enough. He didn't deserve Her hell as well. She wasn't the kind of person to let anyone suffer pointless punishments. Even if that person was an enemy. She walked over and helped him back up. His weak state was going to slow them down considerably so it was best to head off now. "I-I really am sorry." She nodded this time. "Y-You don't have to forgive me." She nodded again. She really didn't have to. She didn't particularly want to either. She could feel him flinch. Spencer followed as they walked running large circles around them.

She eyed Wheatley from the corner of her eye. He looked so sad and well pathetic. His unkempt hair was matted with dirt and a dry blue substance. The same odd blue was in the corners his mouth as well. She was beginning to think it was something like, blood. Like the orange-colored fluid now staining her clothes. Without his shirt and coat she could see just how thin he looked. The bumps of his 'skeleton,' or whatever was in there, were extremely noticeable against his false skin. He caught her staring but looked away quickly. There was something in his eyes... terror? Of her? She figured it was her he was afraid of. She _had_ just mercilessly stabbed their common enemy to death. She refused to forgive him and honestly had every right to stab him as well.

He was mumbling something to her or maybe to himself. It didn't matter, she wasn't listening. She was more concerned about the stupid thing she was preparing to do. The many sure to be awful choices she was making and going to make. She sighed and stopped walking. He looked at her and she lifted his arm from around her neck letting him topple to the ground. He looked up at her the terror in his eyes was palpable.

He tried to keep watching her but couldn't. Her face had become grim. Her lips pursed into a thin line. She was deciding, he reasoned. Probably about whether or not to kill him or simply leave him out here. He chanced another look at her and she gave him a hard look. He crumbled under her stormy eyes, starting to shake. She was going to kill him. He could feel it coming. "I-I..." He choked trying to think of a reason why she shouldn't. Why simply leaving him out here alone with Spencer might be a far better punishment. She looked away from him, eyes on the sky. If she didn't do this everything would be so much _harder._ "I forgive you."

It was so low he almost missed "I-I'm sorry what?" She looked back at him unwilling to repeat herself. She knew he heard her. She offered her hand to pick him back up. "Y-You can talk..." She gave a sharp nod and waggled her hand a bit. They were wasting time. "I-I thought..." She leaned over and grabbed his arm but he pulled away from her. She glared. Fine he could just stay here. She didn't want to lug around her former, would be murderer. She turned, walking away when he suddenly yelled. "ALL THIS TIME?!" She cringed. She wasn't expecting that. "Could you talk back when we were in the facility!?" She bit her lip, he wasn't going to make her feel bad about that. "You could couldn't you!?" He half whispered. "Ah for Gods-" His voice broke. It almost sounded like he was going to cry. "It w-would have really help- helped me if you had, I don't know said, _anything_!" She rounded on him and he instantly lost what little confidence he had, folding in on himself. "I-I mean I'm sure you had your reasons, but it just seems a bit unfair..." She grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet. "Sorry." She said pulling him along. He was quiet for a moment. Thinking about how she still risked her life to save him even though he'd been so bad to her before. "You don't have to be. I should be sorry..."

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**Note: Whoo! Explosives!(I was gonna change the whole, "getting c-4 at a store" thing because it's improbable but it's funnier so deal with it.)**** Many people on here make such wonderful Chell/Wheatley stories but I always wonder: where is the anger? Not Chell's but Wheatleys justifiable anger. Sure he doesn't have the ****_right_**** to be angry or even question her but I do believe that knowing she ****_could _****talk and just simply hadn't would make him angry enough to lash out at her. If only for a moment.**

**In other news do forgive the very, very, VERY short very unsatisfying capture and subsequent escape of Chell, Wheats and Spence. I simply sped through because well you'll see if you stick around. Things will pick up soon.**


	5. Don't be a Lunatic!

**Note: Oh I amended the summary. It was brought to my attention I wasn't clear about the android thing! I'm so sorry for any confusion! (thanks TeslaCoilGirl) Anyway here we are! Travel, travel, travel.**

* * *

The longer they walked the heavier Wheatley got. By the time the sun was gone and the Moon was just peaking over the horizon Chell was practically dragging him. Then he stopped moving all together. His dead weight dropped her to her knees. She hefted his arm over her head. He hit the ground, eyes closed. She stared at him, he wasn't breathing. He was a robot though so that didn't mean anything right? It wasn't like he had lungs or really needed to breathe. Spencer ran over and shook him. "Copilot!?" Chell put her hand on his shoulder, smiling reassuringly. He stared at her then back at Wheatley. "Sleep." She she said pointing to the involuntarily shut down robot. Apparently accepting this explanation he sat next to his friend and stared up at the night sky.

She fought back a smile. That was surprisingly loyal of him. Especially when she had assumed he thought of nothing but space at any given time. She figured they were probably close. Having no one but each other in space. She stood leaving her bag next to the two androids. She looked up at the Moon as she walked off. She still had a chance to run. He wasn't conscious now and she was positive Spencer would stay with him. She wondered if Wheatley could even be as loyal as Spencer. She sat down still being able to see the yellow eyed core from where she was. He was a lot like a puppy. Waiting patiently for his friend to wake back up. Sighing and laying down, her head throbbed slightly. Drifting off to sleep she knew she couldn't bring herself to abandon them.

"Chell!?" "Lady!" "Chell?!" She sat up stiffly, rubbing her neck. She really missed her bed. "Oh!" Wheatley crashed at her feet. Spencer skidded to a stop next to her. Throwing his hands up. "Lady!" She drew her knees up to her chest, giving him a weak smile. Wheatley struggled but finally sat up. "I-I thought you left." He puffed breathlessly. She looked away. She should have left. "I mean, y-you'd probably have been better off but I'm really, really glad you didn't." 'I should have.' She thought bitterly, knowing full well she couldn't. Even if she managed to convince herself she would have gone back for them. He still looked weak. She sighed, that meant she would still need to support him. She stood up. He watched her as she went to get her bag. She walked back over to him eye brow raised. "Stand?" He smiled at her. "Err I-I think so yeah." He clumsily got on all fours and raised shakily to his feet. He wobbled and leaned on her for balance. She pursed her lips and pulled his arm over her shoulder. "T-Thanks Luv."

They walked and Wheatley rattled on about everything. The sky, the sun, wind, trees, the ground. "...and I thought grass was green! I mean what is all this yellow stuff anyway?" His voice filled the air for the first few hours until he finally ran out of steam and things to talk about. So there was silence. Blissful silence, broken only by Spencers haphazard shouts. "When are these stupid nanobots going to kick in any way?" He complained after a long time. She could tell he was just thinking aloud to himself but she gave him a questioning look anyway. "Oh, well since you were taking so long to come, uh not, not that I'm complaining or anything. I'm still really surprised you came at all but um She didn't want me to, well, die before you got there. Ah, so she stuck nanobots in me." He scratched his head with his free hand. "They never could fix too much though. She pretty much tortured me the _whole_ time. Starting to think she just did it out of boredom after a while." He winced as he recalled the memory. "Kinda wished she'd just let me die. Or you know you'd get there faster. Again though, not complaining I mean if I were you I would have to have a long think about saving _me_, considering..." He trailed off.

She did feel a bit bad about how long it took to get there. She'd had a feeling he'd been tortured the whole time. She wouldn't put it past GLaDOS to do that. "It's far." He looked at her. "Sorry, what?" She waved her hand at the empty landscape ahead of them. He frowned. "Oh, h-how, how far." She sniffed. "Six, but more at our pace." He gave a weak un-amused laugh. "S-Six _days_?" She nodded. He rested more of his weight on her. "Bollocks. That is a long time." She nodded again. "Wh-when did you start coming to save us?" She was silent for a moment unsure if she wanted to tell him. "Right after." He tripped and they almost fell. After a few seconds they stabilized, continuing forward. "You left right after the call?" He asked, awe and admiration thick in his voice. She nodded. "Man alive... he breathed. "Why?" She bit her lip. She still didn't want to think about why she saved him.

He didn't collapse today, so they pushed on into the night. "Don't you need to sleep?" She shook her head. The longer they trekked the faster they'll arrive at their destination. She didn't want to spend too many days without food or water. They continued till the Moon started to set and sky began to lighten. "A-Are you sure you don't to have a lie down Luv?" He'd urged the third time she'd stumbled almost dropping him. She just shook her head and shrugged off his concerns. She'd stayed awake for longer. Even if she hadn't recently, and the last time she had it was because She had filled the air with adrenaline but she was nothing if not persistent. So the walked. Daybreak to early morning. She stopped for a moment to tear through her food and down copious amounts of water.

Late afternoon to nightfall. He finally started walking on his own. "I think I read somewhere, humans die if they stay awake for too long." That had been one of his better attempts but she ignored it like all the others. Dawn. He stopped walking. She looked back at him angrily. "I do think we should, well you should, _you_ should rest, really I don't think this is healthy." She rolled her eyes and kept walking. He could rest, she wanted to get in a real bed as soon as possible. He grabbed her shoulder. He knew she was stubborn but really, this was too much. She knocked his hand away glaring. He shied away but continued to stand his ground. "I mean even if you don't want to sleep you should at least stop walking for a moment." She turned from him fists clenched. She knew He'd just keep bothering her until she did. S she dropped her pack and sat. He made a soft satisfied noise and sat next to her. She shuffled away from him placing her bag between them.

He watched her cautiously. She was staring unfocused at nothing, with half lidded eyes. Her head bobbed as she fought to stay awake. 'Never understand humans.' He thought as she rubbed her face vigorously. She was obviously tired, she could barely sit up. Why wouldn't she just sleep? She shook her head and stood scooping up her pack. "Ah w-wait! You're getting up already?" He scrambled to his feet, grabbing her arm. She pushed him away almost knocking him over. He stumbled back and looked back at her crushed. "Oi! I'm just trying to help!" She shook her head and pointed to the horizon. He looked for a second. "I mean it's not going anywhere is it? It's not just going to disappear because you close you eyes Luv!" She rolled her eyes and ran past him.

"W-Wait!" She could hear his awkward foot falls behind her. After a moment smaller, quicker steps came up next to her. Spencer. He was grinning widely, overtaking her easily. Her legs became sore quickly and her head pounded. It was already dark but it steadily became black around her vision. She pushed through it. She just wanted to go home, back at Haven with Aedin, Amelia and her cube. This had been a horrible decision. Why couldn't she just leave him be? She hated how much she missed him. She'd been so eager to see his face, to hear his voice. She wanted so badly to just hate him. At least she could process that emotion about him successfully.

She tripped and hit the ground face first. "Chell!" His hands fell on her shoulders but she rolled away. "Don't touch me!" She growled. He looked visibly wounded now. "What's wrong with you!?" He yelled. "I'm starting to think She was right when She called you a _lunatic_!" She made a hurt noise, glared but he continued to shout. "You said you forgive me but you wont even talk to me! You wont let me near you or help you! Now, now you're running away?" He gave a low rumble and grabbed tufts of his hair in exasperation. "I mean if you still hate me flag it up so at least I _know_ why you're acting like this." She stared with a blank expression. She wanted to be angry or yell maybe even beat him but she couldn't. She wanted to believe it was just because she was exhausted but she'd be lying to herself. She couldn't hate him and as taxing as this trip was she _wanted_ them to come back with her.

She blinked slowly. Her head was _so_ heavy and nothing looked right anymore. "C-Chell?" She dropped her head back to the ground. It was still warm from the heat of the day. Wheatley dropped to his hands and knees and studied at her. "Uh y-you're not _dying_ are you? I knew you should have slept earlier." She tried to shake her head but she wasn't sure anything happened. "Sorry." She managed to whisper. She couldn't see him or anything anymore. "No, no I should be sorry, I mean, why wouldn't you still hate me-" "Don't hate you." "I tried- wait, what?" Her body relaxed and she had the most enjoyable sensation of falling.

"I-I really hope you're not dead. You are breathing, I think." He put a hand gently on her back where her pack didn't touch. It rose and fell slowly. "Okay, so breathing, right not dead." He sat back. "Do you really not hate me?" He asked even though he knew she couldn't answer. "I don't want you to..." He looked around making sure Spencer was still around. Spotting him, he looked back at her. Pulling his knees to his chest. "Wish you'd be a bit nicer though. I mean not that can't I understand why you're acting this way." He watched her sleep for a while then lied down. He stared at the sky. It was rather boring sitting around waiting for her. He wished he could go to sleep. Then again maybe he could. He couldn't _actually_ remember why he had awoken face first on the ground the other day. His system had probably shut down to repair itself better. He screwed up his face in thought. Sleeping would pass the time. How could he initiate a system shut down? He hadn't done it on purpose before.

Searching his programming he had a faint memory. Something, someone, telling him to never go into sleep mode. " Is it danger- OH! Found it."

_Sleep mode: Low energy status/Power conserve_

_DO NOT ACTIVATE._

_To activate sleep mode begin sequence alpha-204.098'm'#'r'_

"Er, okay, best not to then. Don't understand that anyway..." He went back to staring at the sky, listening to Spencers cries, waiting patiently for Chell to wake up again.

The Sun rose but she did not wake until the sun was at the center of the sky. "Morning." She looked over and sat up quickly. He looked at her worriedly. "I don't hate you Wheatley." He smiled widely. "Uh yes, you said that before you went to sleep." She couldn't remember if she had managed to say it aloud or not. She bit her lip and looked away. She felt really ashamed of herself. This Wheatley, nervous, unsure thing she saved from Aperture was not the cruel power mad one from then or her nightmares. He was the Wheatley that broke her from cryo-sleep, who saved her from GLaDOS' surprise just in time. The Wheatley that cared genuinely. She took deep breaths trying to make her resentments dissipate. She was _going_ to bring them back to her home. Resenting him while living with him would be a bad idea.

He was still watching her. His smile faded a bit. As soon as she smiled back it grew. "Are you alright now? Now that you've slept I mean." She nodded, furrowed her bow and stood. "Yes thank you." His smile somehow got wider. He hopped up with her. "On we go?" She patted his arm and started to walk.

* * *

As anticipated travel lasted longer with the two robots in tow. Eventually she spotted her house just on the horizon. "Is that where we're meant to go?" "That's it." "Seems a bit small." Her stomach growled before she could tell him that it was still a ways off. Wheatley laughed just as hard as the first time it happened. "Why do you keep doing that? It's ridiculous!" She blushed, pushing him lightly. "I'm not doing it on purpose." He shook his head still smiling. "Humans."

Later in the day they came up on the house. "Oh not quite as small as I thought." Chell stifled a laugh and ran up the porch. She opened the door and Spencer shot in racing around, jumping on her furniture, flying off the walls. "That guy has _way_ to much energy." She nodded and they walked in. In her kitchen there was a basket filled with still fresh fruit. She smiled faintly. Definitely Aedin, he was probably really worried. She could visit him tomorrow though. What was one more day? She flinched as something crashed to the floor in the living room. She peeked through the doorway not really wanting to see what had happened. Spencer was bolting up and down the stairs. Wheatley was on the ground rubbing his head. At least it wasn't something breakable. She laughed aloud this time. He looked up. "He ran me over!"

She disappeared into the kitchen again. Still rubbing his head Wheatley followed. Ducking under the short doorway he looked around. Touching everything he could reach. Given his impressive wing span that was pretty much everything. "This place is really nice. Very uh, homey." She pulled water from her ice box. "Super colourful. I've noticed, _absolutely_ nothing is white." He laughed. "I could take guess as to why though." He tipped his head to the side. "If I had to pick a colour to hate it would be white. Maybe orange." She laughed again. He was really starting to enjoy that sound. More so when he seemed to make her do it.

He followed her back into the other room. Spencer had stopped rushing the stairs. He was jumping up and down on her long plush seat instead. She ran over waving her hands. Grabbed him and pulled him off the seat. He squirmed as she fussed with his feet. "Er what are you, doing?" Wheatley asked. Without answering she slid both Spencers shoes off tossing him back on the seat. He bobbed dazed then continued his frantic bouncing. Chell set his moon boots off to the side. Wheatley watched Spencer for a moment until he realized Chell was staring at him. "Um, what?" She shook her head. "Didn't say anything." His cheeks started to glow blue. "Oh I- I thought..." She raised her brow. His face glowed brighter blue. She smiled faintly. "Why are you blue?" His hands shot to his face. "What!? Am I? Oh wait, yes, sometimes my circuits over heat and there's this uh... I'm not sure what to call it, coolant? I suppose? Anyway it glows and heat makes it brighter." He nodded. She hummed thoughtfully. 'Like blushing.' She mused. That explained the strange fluid in his and GLaDOS' body as well. He fidgeted and looked the other way. "What is up those stairs?"

She walked passed him to the steps. "Do you sleep?" He followed her. "No, no, well yes. I mean I _can._ Honestlyit's more like a power reserve state. Anyway, I seem to recall being told not to do it. A-Actually it's written in my programming. It says: 'Do not activate.' In giant lettering. Odd though because right after it tells me how to activate it." They climbed to the landing and she walked to the nearest door opening it. "There are two rooms other than mine." She turned to him. "If you want." He beamed. "No, yes that is tremendous! Almost like we were expected." He looked into the room airily, thinking how nice it would be if she had really been preparing for his arrival. When he came around again she had already walked down the hall. He trotted after her. "Your room?" Nod. He followed her in. She looked at him frowning. "Something wrong Luv?" She gave him a warm smile waving her hands dismissively. "Oh! Sorry! Yea, I'll go probably shouldn't leave Spencer alone anyway."

She watched him walk off then closed the door to her room. She rummaged for a change of clothes so she could take a much-needed shower. A noise sounded from the corner and she looked over. She sighed and walked over to her Companion Cube, patting it lightly. As silly as the thought was she felt as though she should have let it know she'd be gone for a while. Maybe she should have told a few people that as well. She thought about Amelia. 'Probably worried sick.' She'd have to make it a point to visit everyone tomorrow. The cube purred at her touch. She nodded at it and turned around clothes in hand, ready to go to the bathroom.

"Keeping that moron here will turn out badly." Said a small tittering voice.

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**Note: Hmm Chell learns to not be so cold. Wheatley doesn't sleep just because someone told him not to. Spencer might break everything in Chells house. HOLY CRAP WHO SAID THAT!? Guess you'll just have to wait and see. Not that you probably can't guess. I mean not really much of a cliff hanger is it? Ah well next chapter then.**


	6. Induced Dreaming

**Note: Well here we are. Chapter 6 hmm he he yea so Idk. I just want you to enjoy and review. I'm trying really hard not to lose it and not start to drabble but I think we have a serious plot point developing so here you go! (oh I've come to the end of already written up story so updates might become sparse)-(that's still true)**

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She stopped dead in her tracks. Hand ghosting over the door handle. That didn't just happen. "You should have know better than to bring him here. He'll just hurt you." The tittering voice said. She turned slowly. The only other thing in the room was her cube. She shook her head. No, she was crazy that was all. It couldn't really speak and she _imagined_ all the noises it made. She backed into the door staring at it. Refusing to blink as if she could watch it speak. The voice came again. "He'll try to kill you again. He hasn't changed." Of course she couldn't see it speak but there was just no denying it was the cube talking. Tremors ran up and down her spine. All these months all it ever did was hum or babble. Now it was speaking to her, _really_ speaking to her. Perfectly coherent words. "The moron _can't_ be trusted." She bit her lip. That was the second time it said that. She couldn't pretend it wasn't talking about Wheatley. "Get rid of him." It hissed. She fumbled for the door knob. It didn't have eyes how did it even know he was here? She slammed the door, racing into the bathroom. She shook her head trying to clear the crawling ominous feeling it's voice gave her. 'I'll deal with it later.' She told herself repeatedly.

Wheatley chased Spencer around the room. "It's not a game mate! Sit before you break something!" Spencer just laughed madly and continued to race around. Wheatley found it remarkable how he could go from one side to the other while never touching the floor. After a moment he gave up plopping heavily into the sofa or at least he thought that's what it was called. Spencer spun around the room, arms spread making a sort of 'whoosh' noise. "Really something wrong with you." Wheatley muttered. He leaned into the seat. Closing his eyes until a noise that wasn't the small damaged robot caught his attention. It was coming through the ceiling and sounded like, rushing water. He hopped up and crossed the room frantically. Staring up, eyes darting across the ceiling. Chell was up there but why would she be spraying water around? He stayed at the other side of the room until the noise stopped.

Being a robot Wheatley always found he had better hearing than humans. Foggy memories of a time before Apertures previous demise backed up this theory. He could always hear the scientists talking about him, laughing at him. Why though he was never sure. They always assumed they'd been out of ear shot. Probably forgetting they had given him the ability to hear so well.

When he moved slowly back over to the sofa he heard something very faint. Straining to hear over Spencer he walked to the stairwell. The sound was really soft, but sweet almost, lyrical. He climbed the steps picking it up better as he got closer to the landing. It was so soft but there was no mistaking that it was a song. He edged along the wall of the hallway until he reached the source of the sound. A door just across from Chell's room.

The air coming from it was humid but he pressed his ear to the door anyway. He closed his eyes trying to focus on the sound. She really was singing in there and she sounded beautiful. He smiled leaning into the door. After the initial shock(and slight anger) of hearing her voice for the first time he'd agreed with himself that it was rather pleasant. Even if what she said was particularly nice. Earlier in the kitchen he decided that her laugh was even better. Warm, infectious, perfectly lovely. Now, if there was any noise she made that he _never_ wanted to stop hearing it was this. He never imagined anything could sound so wonderful, so incredibly amazing. The handle shook. His face dropped but before he could do anything the door opened and he fell in. Crashing into Chell and sending them both to the floor.

Wheatley shouted incomprehensibly as they disentangled from one another. Chell shook her head and hands trying to wave away what she assumed were apologies. He was speaking so fast she wasn't even sure he was saying real words. Not speaking wasn't helping. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Wheatley, shut up." He faltered and fell silent. She smiled to herself. At least that worked. She started to frown as he started up again. She looked at him angrily. He was incredibly blue in the face. Even more so than before. There also seemed to be a bright blue glow coming out of his chest shining through his clothes. He had scooted all the way into the adjacent door. His head was turned from her and his eyes darted around in every direction but hers. He was pointing a shaky finger at her and finally manged to say something almost like a sentence. "N-Not you haven't y-you're not clothes any y-you naked!" She looked down and shouted. Their unexpected collision had knocked off the only thing she'd been wearing. She grabbed her towel, shuffling back into the bathroom, slamming the door shut with her foot.

Wheatley sat against the bedroom door unsure of what to do. So he stayed put. Just as well he couldn't make his legs move. He stared at the bathroom door until she reemerged almost as red as he was blue but fully dressed at least. "What were you doing?" She asked sternly. "I-I nothing! I just I heard y-you uh up here and w-well I thought you were s-singing and it sounded so nice. I-I was just listening! I-I wasn't trying to spy on you! I'm not, I'm not a pervert!" Still unable able to meet her eyes the wall next to her and the floor got the brunt of his speech. She sighed, maybe she could believe that. Not that she had even considered he'd been trying to catch a look at her. She didn't really think robots thought about that sort of thing. He tugged uncomfortably at his collar. "U-Uh not that I'm in any position to ask but... if you're clothes were_ in_ there why were you only wearing that blue thing?" She blushed more fiercely now. Subconsciously pressing her legs closer together. She had forgotten to bring underwear to the bathroom with her.

She walked over to him and he yelped springing to his feet and out of her way. "I-I'm really sorry!" He squeaked. "It's fine. Please just..." She shot into her room and slammed the door. Leaving him with her unfinished thought. He took the hint, running back down the stairs, more than happy to remove himself from that situation. Seeing her like that had made an all too familiar feeling course through him. He didn't want to get into any more trouble or god forbid hurt her. On their way here she had already very kindly threatened to end him if he every betrayed her again. He was in no way willing to end up like _Her_ at Chells hand.

"He's lying to you." She really wished it would just go back to humming. She fell back on her bed. Now completely clothed. Wishing more than anything that moment in the hall never happened. She'd probably never sing in the bath again. "It _will_ happen again." The cube pressed. "Get rid off him." She turned to it. Something about the way it said that made her blood cold. The words weren't even similar but she could have sworn it sounded more like 'kill him.' "I love you." She left the room. That was so much worse than everything else it had said.

She descended the stairs. She felt exhausted but was not willing to return to her room any time soon. Not if that cube was going to keep being creepy. Spencer ran up to her. "Lady! Lady! LADY!" She smiled at him. He grabbed her shirt and pointed behind him. "Time for space!" She tipped her head to the side. "SPACE!" He yelled adamantly. She looked up. He ran over to the window. "Space time! Time for _space!_" It was dusk out. She couldn't help giving a little chuckle. He wanted to watch the stars. He ran to the door and looked at her expectantly. She felt strongly this was how dogs got their owners to let them out. She _did _liken him to a puppy back out in the fields. She walked over and opened the door. He ran out, head and arms raised to the sky. He'd certainly gotten over his disinterest of space rather quickly.

"Can't make up his mind that one." She turned. Wheatley was sprawled out on her couch, his face in the cushions. Left arm dangling off the side. His too long legs hanging over the arm at the shin. He looked really uncomfortable. "First he liked it, then he hated it, now he likes it." He rolled his head to her smiling faintly but not meeting her eyes. "I guess space is alright as long as you're not trapped in it." A question burned in her throat she'd been meaning to ask for days now. "How did She capture you?" There was no need to explain the 'She.' Both knew who was being referred to. He closed his eyes to remember and to continue avoiding eye contact. "We, got hit by a meteor and I was trying to activate rockets that had been built into my body. You know, so we wouldn't die. The manual said I needed verification from a superior. So I turned on this _beacon._ Then I realized it would probably connect me to _Her_, which it did." He said scornfully.

Chell leaned against the door, biting her lip to stop from smiling. Acting before thinking, when did he ever _not _do that? "It worked though, got Her to turn it on." He shifted his left arm jabbing a thumb at his back, where his coat was ripped. She had wondered why it was like that. "Yea... Unfortunately she had total control over it and I had blacked out anyway." His arm dropped back to the floor. "One of her sodding 'Party Escort' Bots brought us in." He scoffed angrily turning his head from her again. "Not much of a _fucking_ party down there though is it?"

Chell eyes went wide. She'd never heard him use such strong language before. Though if she'd been taken back there against her will and tortured she'd probably be a little foul-mouthed too. She considered his story. Something seemed wrong somehow. It was not totally out of the question that GLaDOS would bring him back to Aperture just to torture him violently. Though it was hard not to wonder why she didn't just let him crash. Surely they'd have fallen with enough force to break beyond recognition. At least suffer utterly irreparable damage. His next non rhetorical question brought her from her thoughts. "What about you? When I woke up in there I expected Her to tell me you were dead or, or worse. At the least I expected to see you testing but..." She lifted from the door, shrugging even though he wasn't looking. Her story was not even half as interesting or as painful as his. "She let me go." His head shot back her way so fast she jumped. If he were human he would have gotten whiplash for sure. She dreaded the question burning in his eyes. "_WHY? _I thought she wanted to kill you, like more than _anything._" She shrugged again. She had wondered for a while as well but decided not to question any longer. It turned out heavenly for her and She'd obviously ended up regretting it in the end.

He stared at her finally meeting her eyes waiting for a real answer. "Said it was easier." He looked skeptical. "That doesn't sound like Her, I mean She's evil. Then again here you are so." Now she couldn't meet _his_ gaze. She was here yes but now so was he. Like they had planed from the beginning. Free, _together. _She fought back an intense urge to hug him and walked to the kitchen. She had forgotten to eat all day and remembered there was fruit in there.

* * *

After a few more hours of awkward, stilted conversation from Wheatley, Chell decided it was time for bed. One lengthy struggle with Spencer later(showing him that the sky was still visible from the windows had helped) Chell lead Wheatley back up the stairs and let him pick a room. "I like this one." He murmured sheepishly. Of course he picked the one next to hers. She stood at the doorway and watched amused as he moved through the room with child like awe.

He sat on the bed and smiled at her. "It's nice! I really like the bed it's much more comfortable than I thought they would be." She nodded, cocked her head to the side. "Sleep?" He frowned. "Yea you already asked me that remember? I told you it was dangerous and-" She shook her head and pointed at him. "Sleep." It wasn't a question. Now he looked slightly frightened. "What if I never wake up? What if it kills me?" She rolled her eyes a smiled tugging at her lips. "Like the flashlight?" He faltered. That _had_ been a lie. "You're management rail?" She continued her smile steadily growing. He bit his lip. "Yea alright, I get it! They lied to me and it probably wont kill me."

He fell silent. She watched as his eyes darted back and forth as though he were reading something. He started muttering in a low voice apparently to himself. "This doesn't make any sense. Okay what if I just... activate sequence _alpha-204.098'm'#'r'... _now." She jumped a bit as his eyes fluttered shut and he slumped back on the bed. She snorted and let out a sharp laugh. Perhaps he should have lied down before attempting that. 'At least it worked.' She mused walking over and positioning him better, pulling covers on him. She wasn't sure if he could even get cold but at least he was comfortable. She left and shut the door, dreading going back to her room.

* * *

_Sleep Mode Activated_

_Memory#: 306 replay_

_Sequence Initiated_

_Wheatley stood next to a large pair of doors. The words 'Child Center' were written on them. He watched as people in lab coats similar to his own walked by. He fidgeted with his blue glass tie clip. It was his favorite thing, he wore it everyday. The simple act of touching it made everything more bearable. It was the same kind of electroshock blue as his eyes. A deep, piercing almost _unearthly _blue. That coupled with his unbelievably tall stature, he was someone people frequently called _unnerving, _among other things. They ambled past in preparation for the day, either avoiding looking at him or openly staring. Giving him a look that asked: 'Why are you even here?' Finally he saw the person he needed to talk to. "Oi! Doug!"_

_A scruffy looking man closer to Wheatleys height than most others in the Labs stopped and smiled at him, walking over. "What's up Stephen?" Wheatley shifted nervously, jerking a thumb to the door he stood next to. "Am I really the only one they could find for this?" Doug nodded sympathetically at him. "One of the women we hired to watch them bailed on us." Wheatley sighed loudly. That happened a lot. People felt the vibe from this place an ran as quick as they could. Sometimes he wished he could too. "I'd rather be preparing for the big moment." Doug nodded again this time smiling. "Don't worry we'll pull you out when the time comes to switch it on." Wheatley smiled back unsure. "Kids and I don't really get on." He said with a pleading tone. Doug patted his shoulder. "You'll be alright but I have to go. Mr. Johnson wants me to fire whoever bought all those potatoes."_

_Wheatley laughed in an un-amused way. "Stupid sod, now all these bloody kids are making flipping potato batteries." He rolled his hand around at the wrist. "Low hanging fruit don't you think? It's not really _primary _research even within the child sciences." Doug laughed. "I know what you mean." Wheatley pointed to the door again. "Your kids in this one isn't she?" "Yes." Doug started walking off now. "What's her name?" Wheatley called after the man. "I'm surprised you don't remember." Was the only response before he disappeared around the bend in the hall. "I should remember." He muttered to himself pushing the door open._

_Inside a banner hung with the words: Welcome Daughters of Valued Aperture Employees. Wheatley rolled his eyes at it as the door clicked shut behind him. '"Valued'"oh that's rich.' He thought annoyed. Aperture valued nothing and no one above science. Absolutely everyone was easily replaceable. A variable, a data point on a large spread sheet, nothing more. When the door shut all the little girls turned and rushed over to him. There were forty in the building, split into five rooms each with eight girls. All but one of the eight spoke to him simultaneously. "You're so tall!" "Why are you're eyes so blue?" "Are you a giant?" He tugged nervously at his tie pin._

_"Er, could you please back up a bit, kind of crowding me." He was only met with more shouts and questions. "Your voice is weird!" "Why do you talk like that?" "Does everyone here talk that way?" He removed himself from their midst with some difficulty and stood in the center of the room. "Er no, actually I think I'm the only one who transferred over." More question. "Transferred from where?" "What does transferred mean?" "Moron it means he moved." Wheatley waved his hands. "Whoa! That's not an okay word! You really shouldn't call people that!" He despised the moron more than anything. People around here seemed all too keen to use it though. A small voice he had not heard earlier spoke up._

_"__It hurts feelings." It said mater of factually. He looked down. A small girl with dark brown hair like chocolate. It was long and fell across her shoulders. She looked up at him. Her eyes were piercing but soft, gray-blue and held more age than her body. Dougs child. "That's right." He gave her a gentle smile. He looked across at all their faces. "Now you lot have batteries to make so go on." No one moved. He waved his hands dismissively. "Off we go." Still nothing. He clapped his hands together loudly. "MOVE!" They all jumped and rushed past him to their projects. Except her._

_He knelt beside her. "Don't you want to finish your battery in time?" She shook her head. "Why not?" She took a deep breath. "I've already done a potato battery at school and my results are going to be exactly the same. I want to do something different this time but everyone told me I can't." She looked up at him longingly, with a dread in her eyes that told him she knew he would simply give her the same answer everyone else had. "Tell you what. Do it just this last time and I promise, you'll never ever have to do it again, ever probably. I mean, most likely." She giggled at him. She always did when he rambled to Doug when he was at his place._

_She was always getting reprimanded by her father for asking him to say certain words to her. Wheatley never minded though, no one else seemed to think his accent or his Bristol colloquialisms were amusing. They just thought it was annoying. Doug was only one of a very small amount of people who didn't mind his company. One of the only people who didn't mind seeing him outside of work. Even if being 'outside of work' didn't happen very often. He patted the little girls head. "Ready to go?" She nodded. "That's the ticket Luv." He flashed her a toothy smile and she ran off to her project giggling to herself. He stood fiddling with his tie pin again. He honestly couldn't wait for Doug to come back and get him._

_Sequence Interruption_

_Memory#: 306 replay terminated_

_Sleep Mode Deactivated_

* * *

**Bang. **Wheatleys eyes flew open. **Bang. **He fell out of bed. **Bang. **"What the...?" It was coming from the room beside his. Chells room. He rushed out of his room and stood in front of hers. His hand hovered over the doorknob. Should he knock? **Bang. **Whatever she was doing in there was serious, he was sure but what if she got upset that he didn't knock? **Bang. **She didn't seem to want him in her room before. _**BANG. **_He pushed the door open. She would just have to be cross with him then. He looked at her. Her eyes were shut tight and he could see them moving rapidly beneath the lids. She was asleep. She was also facing the wrong direction, with her head closest to the door and not her legs. They straightened out suddenly, smacking the headboard, making the entire bed rock violently. **Bang.**

Okay that explained the noise, now what? **Bang. **He flinched. If he woke her she'd probably yell at him for coming in. **Bang. **Flinch. She was probably having one of those, what did humans say? **Bang. **Flinch. Bad dreams... Nightmares? Was that it? **Bang.** At a loss he crept over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Her arm swung around and crashed into his face knocking his glasses off. He stifled a shout and got to his knees reaching for his glasses. "Hey whoa it's just me! It's Wheatley!" He hissed hurriedly shoving his glasses back on. She went still but her face still looked distressed, she was gripping fistfuls of her covers till her knuckles went white.

He gingerly touched her forehead whispering to her. "Hey it's just me no cause for alarm." She shook and shied away from him. He bit his lip. "Not dangerous or anything." Her hands relaxed a little. He squinted. "Not uh, not corrupt, just... me. Regular, normal me." She let go of the covers. Is that what she was dreaming about, his corrupt self? "Was I hurting you?" He breathed lowing his voice further. Her head twitched. Was that a nod? "T-That kind of hurts..." He pushed her hair from her face. "Don't worry I'm not gonna hurt you now, alright?" She sighed and rolled over facing him fully. He moved his hand away thinking she might wake up. She frowned again. Her hand reached out blindly. He watched for a second and then grabbed it. Her face relaxed and she muttered something he couldn't quite hear. "I'm sorry what?" He said leaning closer. "Don't. go." He huffed a small laugh and squeezed her hand. "Not going anywhere Luv, promise." She sighed again her hand lost its grip on his and he placed hers back on the bed. "Wheatley." she breathed out slowly. He smiled "Still here." She rolled over.

He stood and walked around the bed to her window almost tripping over the Companion Cube, which hissed at him. He shot it a dirty look. It could be angry on it's on time. "Don't think I couldn't hear you." He hissed back. It fell silent. He gave a smug smile. He defiantly won that argument. Even if it was with an inanimate object. He looked out the window, the Moon it wasn't exactly full. Still bright enough to cascade waves of light into the room. Bathing Chell in a soft white glow. Giving her almost an angelic aura. 'More or less appropriate.' He mused. She whispered his name again, and he walked back over. "Haven't gone, promise." He glanced around at her room. The paint on her walls was odd. Swirled in spots, angled or vertical in others. Painted in a hurry it looked like, even the ceiling. 'She probably painted it.' He thought. They must have been a bad colour or white. She defiantly wouldn't have been able to sleep if they had been white.

He stared at them, squinting. Why pick blue though? The blue she chose was not exactly warm or inviting. Why not pink like that sodding cube? He looked back at it glaring. She said his name, reaching out her hand again. He grabbed it. "It's alright Luv." He stayed at her side for a while. Finally he let go and stood to leave. As he walked to the door the cube caught his attention again. "She'd kill you if she woke up now." It said in a sing-song way. "Why don't you shut up?" He spat quietly at it. "You should wake her up now and admit your wrong doings." He turned to it fully. "Haven't done anything wrong mate." He put his back to it walking quickly to the door, grabbing the handle. "You're really not going to tell her you felt_ it_ again?" His face got hot and he turned his head slowly to it. He thought about their run in today. She been naked. He had fallen on her and she'd been completely naked. Just thinking on it now made that feeling run though him. "H-How did you know about that?" It laughed at him. "Moron." His hands shook and he bit back the urge to shout at it. He left the room quickly before it could speak to him again.

* * *

Chell cracked her eye open slightly. She could see someone standing and walking to the doorway. Wheatley? What was he doing? She considered sitting up and addressing him but stopped when he spoke. "Why don't you shut up?" His tone was biting. Who was he talking to? She hadn't said anything. She was sure he didn't notice she had woken up. She could hear a soft murmuring. Wheatley spoke again sounding angrier now. "Haven't done anything wrong mate." She dared to open her eyes a little wider, sifting her head ever so slightly. He was standing completely still with his hand on the door. He wasn't looking at her but the floor next to the bed. Face as blue as the sea. "H-How did you know that?" A soft laugh. She shifted her head again and the door shut. "Back to sleep now." She shivered and rolled over. Was that what he had talked to? An overwhelming feeling of dread washed over her as she stared at the opposite wall wide awake now. Wheatley had talked to it so directly but she hadn't understood anything it had said until he left. Forcing herself to fall back to sleep she considered getting rid of it.

* * *

**Note: Oh man I made that freaking cube so uber creepy now. So, so disturbing. Oh hay about Wheatleys "dream" I know it's rather common to make him kind of a moron during his life as a human as well. But I love him too much for that. I will cue you in on how he became a moron. And just so you don't feel bad he's not really a genius as a human just kind of barely above the bar(hence the 'why are you here' looks) what else what else? Mmm oh er strange feelings arising. So sad, poor Wheatley. Don't waste all your sympathy yet! I've got so much more crap to put him through! Chell as well! (maniacal laugh). Do look forward to the next chapter.**


	7. Evil Cube, Ugly Jumper

**Notes: MAN ALIVE! I have procrastinated this chapter something fierce. Uh but here it is. Hope you like it. R/R**

* * *

GLaDOS glared angrily at a large screen. The window open had a black background with a cascade of yellow writing scrolling down it rapidly. She read through just as quickly as it flew by. A small pang shot through her chest. She rubbed it slowly. _"I should have expected that mute to be more excessive than the situation called for."_ It was the price she had to pay to make it authentic. Even if it meant going off-line for a few days. At least there were no crazy humans running around she had to worry about while she was temporarily continued to read through the input on her screen. Thin red synthetic lips pressed together tightly. _"Lunatic." _Finally something caught her attention. She flicked a small switch on the panel below the large screen.

"Sow the seeds of doubt?" A small voice said to her. She pressed the tips of her fingers together. _"And how is that going? Did you set the trap?" _The voice giggled. "Literally ran right into it?" She chuckled lightly. _"I'm sure the moron got a nice jolt out of that." _"Easily flustered now?" The voice tittered. GLaDOS nodded thoughtfully. _"And the dreams?" _The voice sounded less excited. "Interrupted by the moron last night?" She frowned. _"Does he know?" _The excitement came back full force. "Too stupid to pick up on it!?" GLaDOS gave a malice coated laugh. _"Isn't he just? Well continue on. Clue me in when they start lashing out at each other. You know I don't want to miss that." _A soft maniacal laugh. "Over and out?" She flicked the switch back to its original position. Yes, her plans always worked so nicely. She grimaced running her hands over her chest again. Even if it got a little _painful_. _"Lunatic."_

* * *

Chell escaped her room as quickly as possible. It hadn't said anything this morning thankfully. "Oi oi!" She looked down the stair well. Wheatley was staring up at her smiling widely looking rather proud of himself. "Look what I found!" He stuck out one of his large hands. In the center sat something the same kind of strange blue as his eyes. Flat on one side and rounded on the other. The thing she had picked up with his clothes back at the Enrichment Center. She came down the steps. "It's...?" "My tie pin!" He exclaimed happily. "It's my favorite thing in the world Luv! I thought I lost it back at the facility but I found it in your bag." He stuck it happily on his blue tie. She eyed him thoughtfully. He wasn't wearing his coat and she could see how dirty the shirt underneath was. It was also ripped, just like his coat. "I also found my vest in there." He continued following her as she made her way to the kitchen. She nodded and shuffled around pulling things from the cabinets, running water.

He watched her fuss with all the different things in the small room. She seemed to be so good at it. Knew what everything was, as if she'd done it all her life. She was a human. Perhaps that sort of thing just came naturally to them. He got lost in her deft movements. The way her untied hair shifted around her shoulders. How her back arched when she reached up high. Drawing more attention to the alluring slope of her backside. A shot of something rushed through him and she shook his head biting his lip. 'Not again.' He turned from the doorway. Waiting for it to pass. He jumped when a small hand touched his arm. "OH! It, it's just you Luv. W-Well of course it's you. W-Who else would it be?" She stared at him in confusion. He started thinking about last night. Even if it meant her getting mad he had to tell her about that cube. He wasn't sure she even knew it was sentient. "Uh oh um can, can we talk? In er, private?" He gave a desperate glance at the staircase.

Chell followed his gaze remembering what happened yesterday. She nodded grabbing his wrist and leading him from the house. They walked to her slightly repaired fence and he began to talk a mile a minute. "Look please don't be mad at me alright but last night I went into your room because I heard all these weird noises. It, it was just you having a, I think you call them nightmares? Anyway I noticed there was a Storage Cube in there and aside from wondering how you got it, which I still do but I guess that can wait. T-That thing, that cube it was saying things to you while you were sleeping. I'm not positive what it said cause it stopped as soon as I came in. Then after I got you to stop kicking the wall it started talking to me and it called me a _moron_. You know just like_ Her_! I -I think that thing is evil!"

Chell stared still trying to process his impressive slew of word vomit. He was panting slightly and she thought dimly that it was a good thing he didn't really need to breathe. She stared back at her house. Presented with this information she couldn't keep thinking that, that seemingly one-sided conversation was a dream. Or that the cubes speech was an invention of her own insanity. There _was_ something evil about it. She crossed her arms. Even so she still couldn't seem to give real consideration to tossing it. It was all she had when she left the Enrichment Center. It had kept her company and hummed strange tunes to her as she trudged tired and under nourished through the endless wheat field. Still, it wasn't as if she wasn't without company anymore. Even if she had never gone to get Wheatley and Spencer, all the people of Haven were more than happy to accept and befriend her. The children were adorable, eager to talk to her, especially Amelia.

"Luv?" His voice pulled her from her thoughts. "I-I don't want to upset you or anything. I'm sure you and that, um, _thing_ have been through a lot together." He was kicking the ground anxiously fidgeting with the pin on his tie. Yes but maybe keeping it was a moronic idea. If even the android specifically designed to be a moron saw the stupidity of simply doing nothing about it... Even so she couldn't bare the thought of parting with it. "Chell?" Again his voice broke her from the depths of her mind. "I-I don't..." She stammered. He watched her worriedly. "I don't want to pressure you. I mean I suppose it's yours to do with as you please but maybe consider it? I mean it's not very nice." Chell nodded slow then shook her head. "I don't like the way it calls you a moron." He squinted at her.

"Y-You can understand it?" She furrowed her brow. "Sometimes." He looked back at the house with fearful eyes. "W-What has it said to you?" She held her arms tighter to her chest. "It said you'd betray me again and that I shouldn't trust you." He was still staring at the upper floor of the house. "It doesn't want you around." She added after a moment. He still didn't turn back to her. "A-Any- anything else?" She watched his fingers slide over his blue pin erratically. "No." She didn't think it wise to mention it thought their flustering moment the other day wouldn't be the last. She didn't particularly want to think about it or why it even knew about what happened. The door to her room had been closed. It could have overheard. He wasn't exactly quiet but it less than assuaging to think that it was always listening to her.

"Y-You're sure?" He pressed. "Yes. Why?" His head shot her way. "N-No reason Luv." He gave a pained forced smile. He was such a terrible liar. She put her hands on her hips and stared him down. "What did it say to you last night?" He sputtered under her powerful gaze. "N-Nothing really j-just said y-you'd be mad if you s-saw me in there. T-Then it s-said I should j-just tell you." He looked away he really didn't want to admit to her he'd been having _that _feeling. She'd get rid of him for sure if she knew and he wanted to say here so badly. He glanced back at her. She was so brilliant and had done so much for him now. More than he could repay in her lifetime. As long as he could keep it under control she didn't have to know. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he put her in danger again. Maybe he'd tell her if it got out of hand.

"Wheatley." He cringed. "P-Promise that's all it said." He was still lying but she could tell he wasn't going to tell her the truth anytime soon. She decided not to press. She was keeping one of its comments from him too. She dropped her hands. "Alright." She went to suggest they go back indoors when someone called out behind her. "ANGEL!" It was such a sweet small voice. She and Wheatley turned. Amelia was running up the dirt path that linked her house and Haven. She looked scared and relieved giving her face an odd expression. "ANGEL!" She called again. Chell smiled. She knelt and opened her arms. Amelia flew into her embrace. "Angel where have you been!?" She sounded close to tears. Chell stroked her hair.

"You've been gone for so long! E-Everyone... E-Everyone th-thought..." She started to cry. Chell could feel a warm wet spot spreading on her shoulder. She patted the little girls back. "I'm sorry." Amelia pushed away from her. "You should be! Even mister Aedin-" Her eyes went wide trailing up, past Chell. Her small fists gripped Chells shirt tightly. "A-Angel t-there's a g-giant monster behind you." Chell snickered, standing. Amelia grabbed her hand tightly standing behind her legs. "That's, that's not really a nice thing to say is it?" Wheatley said sounding put off. Chell squeezed Amelias hand lightly. "Amelia, this is my friend Wheatley." He perked up considerably at her use of the word friend. "Am I really your friend?" She smiled lightly and nodded. She had never wanted to _stop_ being his friend. It was really hard to continue to like him while he was trying to kill her though. Even if she still did not fully trust him now, it was nice to consider him a friend again.

Amelia stepped out from behind Chell. Wheatley snorted loudly. "Blimey! That is an _ugly_ jumper!" Amelia looked around. Not knowing what he meant. Chell was not familiar with his term either but she knew instantly he was talking about her sweater. Amelias favorite sweatshirt was hodgepodge of strange patterns and colours. The main part of the sweater was an odd dark green. Though that was barely visible under all the patches that had been sown to it. Not one of the patches were the same colour as the sweater. All the patches had strange patterns and no one matched another. Chell had gotten used to the crazy somewhat disorienting look of the sweater. She could fully understand the need to point it out. There was no ignoring it once you saw it.

Amelia tugged on her pants leg. "What does he mean? I don't see anyone jumping." Wheatley scoffed. "No you tiny human. That!" He pointed to her. "That is the ugliest flipping thing I've ever seen!" Chell punched him in the arm. "Ow! Come on! You can't tell me you don't think so Luv! It's hideous!" He rubbed his arm frowning at her. Amelia glared at him. "You're not very nice." He crossed his arms. "Well you called me a monster. Which I'm _not_ by the way. So I think we're even." Amelia looked slightly shamed. Chell rolled her eyes. He could be so childish. She knelt beside the little girl again. "Amelia who did you come with?" She really hoped she hadn't come up by herself. He parents would be worried. She already had a bad habit of taking off to Chells house without letting anyone know. "Don't worry I'm here with her." Chell looked up smiling. "Aedin." She stood and a freckled man with bright red hair ran over and hugged her tightly.

Wheatley clenched his fists tensing up. It wasn't okay the way that man was so comfortable putting his hands all over Chell. He didn't know why but he knew he didn't like this guy. The man named Aedin finally pulled away from her. "Where in the world have you been!?" She shook her head. "Water my plants?" Aedin sighed. "Of course. Tell me where you went." She shook her head again. "Thanks for the fruit basket." Aedin grabbed her shoulders. "Damn it Chell you were gone almost three weeks! What the hell happened to you!?" Chell yelped softly as she was jerked backward away from the ginger. Wheatley wrapped his arms around her pinning her to him. "Look she'd not going to tell you, so just piss off mate." Chell squirmed. "Wheatley!" He loosened his grip but didn't let go. "What!? He was harassing you Luv!"

Aedin looked up mouth gaping slightly. Completely taken aback by Wheatleys height, just as Amelia had been. "Oh man... Who is this?" Chell slid out from under Wheatleys arms. "Oi!" She walked next to Aedin facing the android. "Wheatley this is Aedin. He wasn't harassing me he's just worried." Wheatley scowled unconvinced. "I mean, I worry about you all the time but I don't go round snatching at you. Oh, well... I mean there was that one time but..." Chell sighed a smile tugging at his lips. He was always concerned for her? "Where did you find him?" Aedin whispered to her as Wheatley continued to babble. "Long story. We're... old friends." She didn't know how else to put that.

"LADY!" Everyone turned to the house. Spencer had burst out of the front door and come barreling over to the group. "Whoa, what is your rush mate?" Wheatley tried to grab him as he passed but Spencer dodged, determined to reach Chell. He crashed into her legs almost toppling her over. He patted them frantically. "Lady! Lady! Lady! Lady!" She tried and failed to hold back a grin. "Spencer?" "Lady! Space!" He was pointing back in the direction of the house. Wheatley laughed softly. "That little bloke has been watching your telly all morning. It's probably got something about space on it now. Chell giggled. "You're missing all the space." Spencers eyes went wide and he ran back to the house. "Thanks lady!" Wheatley had a bemused look when he turned to her. "That was odd. Did he just say thank you?" Chell shrugged and froze realizing Amelia and Aedin were giving her strange looks. They were almost like the one Wheatley just gave but stronger.

Aedin bowed his head running his fingers though his mop of red hair. "Okay so you buy explosives for who knows what. Leave without telling anyone. Vanish from the face of the Earth for three weeks. Now you're back with a giant and a _kid _and you're not going to explain _any_ of that?" He stared at her with a look she couldn't place. She shrugged. That was true, she wasn't going to tell him anything. No one needed to know that hell was a real place. That she had abandoned her home, her friends, her _life _to save her former antagonist and a deranged robot. They especially didn't need to know they were robots.

She didn't even know how they would act around humans. So far Wheatley had insulted a little girl and was glaring evilly at best friend. She didn't know why. He couldn't tell she'd noticed him doing it. She'd say he was off to a bad start. Spencer couldn't even form coherent sentences or even talk about something that wasn't space. Maybe though, maybe no one would ask questions. Perhaps everyone would just think they were incredibly odd. Wheatleys accent could help that. Living in Aperture all their lives was pretty much like being from another country. Chell knew that all too well. She had gotten strange looks from people when she didn't know something that should have been common knowledge. Since she refused to tell anyone where she had come from they couldn't understand why she was so un-equipped in many areas. Aedin was still staring at her.

"Miles off are we Luv?" Wheatley laughed. She shook her head to clear it. Aedin sighed again trying to smile. "Just tell me one thing." She nodded. "Are you going to disappear again any time soon?" She smiled. "Nope." She had everything now. Hopefully she really wouldn't have to go back there again. All her loose ends were tied. She looked back at the house. She could faintly hear Spencer shouting about space. 'Everything except that.' She thought gloomily.

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**Notes: I want to clear up that Wheatley can and does understand the companion cube at all times. He's a robot. From the same facility. Chell is human and therefore can not understand when it's not speaking English. It's also on a different frequency so it sounds like humming or white noise(snow) Hmm okay so Wheatley doesn't like Aedin. Amelias sweater is ugly and Spencer will probably be glued to Chells telly as long as there is space on it.**


	8. Being Human

**Note: Well it's 8. I haven't slept and I didn't eat until now which mean I technically didn't eat all yesterday. Hilarious. Anyway having said that there are probably some serious issues with the grammar and spelling in this chapter. I've gone though a few times but i'm sure I'm missing some stuff. I'll come back and fix it when I get a second wind or something. Please enjoy and R/R**

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In an effort to further procrastinate the looming reality that she would need to do _something _about the cube she asked Aedin to wait around while she fetched Spencer. They could all walk to town together and get her two wards some much needed new attire. Wheatley followed her in while Amelia and Aedin waited outside. Chell puttered around searching for hers and more importantly Spencers shoes. After locating one of the moon boots she stopped. Wheatleys eyes had been drilling holes in her since they went inside. She turned to him slowly. His shoulders were bunched up. His lips pressed together tightly. He looked like he was about to explode.

"Wheat-" "That bloke doesn't have a very good sense of boundaries does he?!" She deflated and went back to looking for the other boot. "Friends don't have many boundaries." She muttered. He kicked something off to the side. "I thought I was your friend." She shoved her arm shoulder deep under her sofa. "I enjoy having more than one friend." He bit the inside of his mouth. "You didn't mind just having me back _there._" She was so sure she could feel it at the tips of her fingers. "I didn't have much of a choice back then." He watched her attentively. "I suppose not... still though." She pulled her arm back and knocked the dirt off. "I mean if you had to pick a best mate it be me right?" She pressed her face to the rug, peering in the gap between the couch and floor. It _was_ under there. "I mean we've been through more together than you and that... guy."

She continued to stare at the out of reach shoe. Maybe Wheatley could take a break from his petty jealousy and help her push the sofa from the wall. She got ready to ask him but the space between the floor and the couch was getting bigger. She sat up, scooting back. He was already lifting it still talking. He pushed it on it's back. "Besides, I bet he can't do that." She grabbed Spencers shoe. He was right. It had taken Seamus and Aedin ages to move it that day a rat had died under it. "How did you-" "Robot! Obviously. _Much_ stronger than humans you know." She frowned. "About that. Don't tell anyone you're a robot." He scratched his head. "Just as well. They told me humans usually can't cope with androids. They go mad and try to kill them or something." He eyed her wearily. She guessed he found a lot of truth in those words. Given she'd defeated and killed nearly omnipotent A.I.'s four times now. She nodded. "Best if no one knows then." He nodded as well.

They fought with Spencer for a bit but managed to get his shoes on and drag him out of the house. He was wailing at the top of his lungs about space. "FOR GODS SAKE MATE _SHUT UP_!" Wheatley finally yelled when they had reached Amelia and Aedin at the start of the dirt road leading from the house. Spencer fell silent, eyes large. Wheatley immediately regretted shouting. Other than Chell this crazy little guy was his only friend. "Aw don't look at me like that. I-I'm sorry I didn't mean it." He waved his hands. "W-We're gonna have much more fun with Chell than if we sat in the house." Spencer perked up. "Copilot!" Relief struck him hard. "That's the spirit mate!" He said nodding smiling nervously. Aedin glanced at Chell. She shrugged weakly. She had no good explanation for Spencers behavior that didn't involve admitting he was a robot.

They walked down the road, Amelia clutching Chell's hand tightly. "Who's manning the shop?" Chell inquired of the red-head. "Dad and Colin." She smirked. "Is that a good idea?" His younger brother was an absolute terror. He scoffed. "Dad can handle him. Better than I can anyway." Wheatley chuckled to himself. "Bet you can't handle much." Aedin raised his eyebrow. "What was that?" Wheatley eyed him. A smile still playing on his lips. "I'm sorry what?" Aedin turned his gaze back to the road. "Thought you said something." He mumbled. Wheatleys smile grew. "Who me? No, not at all mate." Chell rolled her eyes. She couldn't understand what his deal was with Aedin. It couldn't just be jealousy could it?

The closer they got to town the closer Wheatley stood to Chell and the less distance Spencer walked ahead of the group. By the time they arrived at the large, worn "Welcome to Haven" sign both androids had pushed Aedin and Amelia away. Spencer was pulling large fistfuls of her shirt while Wheatley dug his fingers in her shoulders. Almost instantly everyone outdoors and within ear shot of someone who shouted: "She's back!" were crowding around them. At this point Wheatley had attached himself to her. His arms wrapped around her neck and shoulders while he and Spencer fought for the place just behind her. All while a large portion of Havens inhabitants were asking a million questions.

"I don't like this. I don't like this. I don't like this. I don't like this." Wheatley chanted in a low whisper. She couldn't tell if it was him or Spencer who was shaking but it was making her body shudder. "Please calm down." She begged them both. "This isn't good, this isn't good, this isn't good..." He chanted in response. Though he was handling this situation poorly, she agreed. This wouldn't be good even if he wasn't terrified out of his mind. The crowd around them went quiet. Aedin was trying and failing to get everyone to back off. Amelia had disappeared somewhere into the crowd. Finally someone broke the silence. She was older, around her late forties. She had short black hair, soft brown eyes and was wearing a strikingly white doctors jacket. Amanda, one of Havens three medical professionals.

"I think everyone just wants to know who they are Chell. I think at this point we all know you wont give more details then that." A few people muttered, a lot of people nodded. Chell sighed. That was the only bad thing about how small Haven was. There wasn't much going on. So the only interesting thing to do was gossip. Chell found herself at the center of that frequently. Her whole arrival was still shrouded in mystery even after five months. She knew this was going to happen eventually. She just really wished she'd had more time to decompress. Right after a physically and emotionally straining trek to hell and back only to arrive home to a deranged cube. This was the last thing she needed. They did deserve to know about the new inhabitants even if she couldn't tell them everything. At least Amanda made it a bit easier. Quashing everyone's chance to ask her where she'd been the past few weeks after vanishing.

She steadied her breathing wishing she wasn't on the verge of choking. She raised a hand and pointed at Wheatley who flinched and tried to duck behind her. Pointless, as he was twice her height and simply came off as ridiculous. Like a _very_ large child. At least Spencer was more appropriately sized to cower behind her. She had no idea they would react this way. Maybe she should have prepared them better. "This is my good friend Wheatley." His arms relaxed. She happily took in more air. "And the little one" She swept her hand down at her side. She wasn't sure where he was actually standing but he was cutting off the circulation to her right leg. "His name is Spencer." A few people looked satisfied with this. The bulk did not. Their unasked questions burned holes in her. Wheatleys head was shoved into her neck. He was still muttering but she couldn't understand him anymore. He was completely checked out at this point. His breath was hot and was making her a bit flustered. He didn't breathe, why was it hot? She continued to address the spectators. "We have had a _very, tiring _journey and are a bit worse for the wear at the moment."

She didn't realize how tense she had gotten until the crowd dispersed and her muscles relaxed. Her leg was asleep and Wheatley was still blubbering into her neck, trembling. She could hear him properly now though. "Man alive... I thought that would never end. I'm really sorry about that. It's like I just completely shut down. Only you know while I'm still running. Maybe I'm malfunctioning. I had no _idea _what to do. I've never had so many humans around me. Defiantly not all awake and talking at the same time." His breath tickled her ear. "You handled that so well though. I can't get over how brave you were Luv." Her face flushed. Why was his breath so hot? She squirmed a bit but he continued to hold on to her. "I couldn't even talk and that's the one thing I'm good at you know?" He squeezed her shoulders still speaking softly into her ear. "But you, you did! Got them to leave even. Just brilliant that is."

His lips brushed her ear and she jumped pulling away from him. Spencer jumped as well following her and clinging to her leg again. "Ah! Sorry I was still holding you wasn't I? Sorry about that! Also I think I was choking you a bit. I'm sorry if I was! I was just so bloody terrified." She was still standing close enough to see that his face was blue. It would probably be more noticeable if it wasn't so light out. At the moment in the intense light of the sun, it passable as nothing. Good thing it was just light and not blood unlike her. Her face was burning. "You look like an apple." He said quietly, fiddling with his glass pin. She wrapped her arms around herself and turned from him. She was trying not to push down the intense feeling that shot through her when his mouth had mistakenly swept over her ear. It tore through her savagely, without warning. From the point of the minuet contact, to right between her legs.

It was _confusing_, she'd never felt it that strongly before. It was nowhere near as strong as this yesterday. When he had fallen on top of her. She'd been naked. With no towel. Completely nude. "Luv?" She shut her eyes, hugging herself tighter. They were both accidents, she knew that. He didn't mean anything by it. He probably didn't even noticed what just happened. Still she didn't want him making her feel that way though. The cubes comment came to mind. 'It will happen again.' She shook her head. She didn't want to regret her decision to rescue him. He had been, well, _was_ her friend. He was and she wanted to be his. She just had to be careful. Avoid close contact. At least he was a robot. She was sure he didn't have to deal with complex emotions like this. Although perhaps he did. She really didn't know. He had been just as flustered as she was the other day. Probably more so. She had no way of knowing if it was for the same reason. Unless she asked of course. "Chell?"

That wasn't him. She turned. Aedin, he seemed worried. "Sorry I couldn't get them to leave." She wished she wasn't so red. "It's fine. I'm more worried about the rumors that will come from this." He laughed lightly turning his head. They were standing out in front of his and his fathers shop. "Coming in?" She nodded. "Need clothes." He smiled. "Don't you have enough clothes." She rolled her eyes. "Ha. Ha. They're for this one," She patted Spencers head. "And him." Wheatley was still in the same spot. He was staring at his hands, muttering to himself. Aedin scrutinized him. "Strange company you keep Chell." A short loud laugh escaped her. She looked at the store. Through the large windows she could see Seamus. He looked like he was yelling. Probably at Colin. "Think they have his size in there?" She waved her hand toward the still babbling robot. He swept his hands out, palms up. "Never seen anything with 'gigantic' on the tags." She smiled sweetly. She knew finding that size would be a chore. At least he was here to help. Always so helpful and kind. Blissfully predictable.

"AHHHHMY GOD!" Chell and Aedin looked over. Wheatley was on the ground shaking. A small boy Chell knew as Brandon was standing in front of him quaking just as much. Chell opened her mouth to call to him. "Wheatley!" Her mouth hung open wider as Spencer finally let her leg go an bolted over to the downed giant. She couldn't get her mouth to shut. 'Did he...?' She'd never heard him refer to Wheatley as anything but 'Copilot.' She assumed he didn't know his name. He didn't even know his own name. Well the name he'd been given. Wheatley was just as shocked as she was. "What the!?" He leaned forward staring at Spencer hard. "Did you just say my name?" Spencer nodded and plopped on the ground next to him. "There is something very wrong with you." He whispered. Spencer just smiled. Chell tapped Wheatleys head. "Ah! Huh? Oh it's just you Luv. Don't think I can handle another scare. I mean if I had a heart it probably would have stopped." She frowned. Did he have to say things like that so loudly?

Aedin came over, done shooing a few kids and the boy named Brandon away. "So you don't have a heart?" He asked amused. Wheatley sneered at him. "No, I quiet literally do not." Chell poked him in the back with her foot, glaring at him now. "I'm surprised you're alive then." Aedin teased still believing this was a joke. Completely unaware of Wheatleys resentment of him. Wheatley rubbed his back understandings Chells painful hint. "W-Well I mean obviously I really do. J-Just so you know... uh I do have one, a proper one. All red and... b-beating." He held out his hand palm up, squeezing his fingers in to his palm rhythmically. "Always pumping that d-disgusting red goo through my fleshy body." His words were strained and he was making an odd face like he was going to retch. Aedin grimaced then addressed Chell. "Meet me inside when you're ready." He walked into the shop. Wheatley stood brushing dirt off his coat. His shoved his hands in the pockets and leaned backward sharply so he was almost eye level with her. "Think I played that well. He totally bought it. Be honest, it was good wasn't it?"

She closed her eyes, lips splitting into a wide smile. She grabbed his arm and Spencers hand and pulled them in to the store. It took some searching but they managed to find appropriately sized clothes for them both. She picked up a small fabric repair kit at Wheatleys protest to get a new coat. "I really like this one! Besides that none of these are as long. I _need_ a long coat Luv. I'll look like a twonk in something that short." She had no idea what that was but figured it was bad. She also picked up cloth patches roughly the same colour as the coat. If he was going to insist on wearing it she wanted to at least hide the Aperture logo. He was sure he'd appreciate it.

"It's really rude to stare like that you know." Colin had been gaping at him and Spencer since they came in. Finally he spoke up. "Why are his eyes yellow?" He pointed down at the short android. Chell seized up. She'd forgotten his eyes weren't normal. Nothing about those two fazed her. She was so used to being around things that seemed human but weren't. His eye colour had never struck her as odd. Just like every other robot she'd known, he had a single associative colour and everything about him reflected it. She didn't know if Wheatley would answer without saying something moronic but she couldn't come up with anything to say. There was no reason anyone would have yellow iris'.

"He's special." Wheatley said with a smile. "It's weird." He grimaced. "You're eye colour isn't all that normal either mate." Chell smiled at him. She was glad he had crushed the interrogation so quickly. Colin frowned considering the towering androids words. "I guess I'm special then." Wheatley looked away disinterestedly. "Yea sure." He scoffed inwardly. Humans were not special. They were mostly wholly unremarkable. Well except her. She was very remarkable. Interesting to look at. Especially certain part of her. The softest looking bits. Mostly her face. When she smiled that was the best part. He looked over at her. They stared at each other with lofty smiles. Chells smile dropped and she turned away her face going red again. How long had they been staring at each other like that?

Colin was beaming deviously. Looking back and forth at them. "You two have got it for each other haven't ya?" Chell dropped the things she was holding. "I'm sorry what?" Wheatley asked squinting at him. "Colin!" Seamus yelled at his son. "What!? They have _so_ got the hots for each other!" The boy said defensively. Chell abandon her items on the floor and instead buried her head in her hands. Wheatley started to laugh. "What does that even mean?" Colins devious smile got worse. "You two are dating aren't you?" Wheatley shook his head. "Nothing you're saying makes any sense mate." "Colin please shut it." Aedin said angrily. "You're just mad cause someone got to her first." Chell looked up. Aedins face was a red as her. "Damn it. Go home!" Laughing madly Colin ran out the front door.

"That was really confusing. Oi Luv you alright?" He got on his knees and picked up the clothes and tailoring items she dropped. He stood and held his hand out to her. She pushed his hand away and stood on her own. Aedin came up to her rubbing the back of his neck. "Uh hey can we talk? Alone?" She nodded. "No." They looked up at Wheatley. "I'm not gonna leave her alone with you and you're obvious boundary issues." Aedin through his hands up exasperatedly. "What is he talking about? What are you talking about?" Wheatley glared. "You know what I'm talking about." Chell wished for the first time that she could disappear. She could normal handle anything thrown at her. Or at least too stubborn to walk away until she figured out how to conquer the problem. She had no experience in matters like this and would rather walk away and pretend it never happened than address it. The two guys were still arguing. "Fine!" Aedin finally shouted. He turned to Chell. "Are you and him together romantically or not?" Wheatleys eyes got big. That was a word he understood. "Romantic..."

Chell shook her head so hard she gave herself a headache. She could not, would not entertain the idea that she and Wheatley could be intimately linked. It was preposterous, they were too different. Far to different. "Really?" Aedin pressed. She nodded again slower. Wheatley scrunched up his face. Where had he heard that word? He was sure he knew what it meant. Something about humans. Spending time together or... something. Yes, living together and sharing privet moments. A bond stronger than friendship. Chell was more than a friend. She was _so_ much more than that. She was everything. He wouldn't even be alive if it wasn't for her. Did they have a... romantic relationship? "Wheatley?" He looked down at her. He had that kind of feeling for her, didn't he? "Please let's go. Come on." She walked out with Spencer trailing her. He moved hazily out of the door. Following her back to the large sign at the base of the road leading to her house. He badly wanted to ask her if she could feel the same way. He wasn't as brave as she was though. There was no way he could ask. She didn't really seem keen to talk about it any further anyway.

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**Note: I hope you don't feel like I'm moving to fast. They've been together for a couple of days now though and it is the point of the story. They have to start descending into madness sooner or later. I mean Chells still denying everything Though obviously Wheatley really likes the idea. There is an obvious rivalry developing with Wheats and Aedin. We'll get back to the cube really soon. Actually it's all the next chapter is about. (kinda, maybe haven't wrote it yet) Have fun.**


	9. Driving the Wedge

**Note: I was trying to figure out what sort of present I could give a bunch of Chelly nerds. Then it hit me. Fan Fiction DUH! So here is chapter 9. Be forewarned though it's kind of sad. Well depressing really. Ends on a happier, fluffier note though. (fair bit of swears)**

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_Sleep Mode Activated_

_Memory#: 312 replay_

_Sequence initiated_

_Disaster. Complete utter disaster. The whole facility is shaking. Everyone is shouting. The loudest of all are coming from the Genetic Life-form and Disk Operating system. It or rather _she _proceeded to fly off the rail and fill various rooms of the Enrichment Center with deadly neurotoxins about two picoseconds after the start up protocols had finished. Wheatley hurriedly shoves his jacket into one of the rooms vents in an effort to dampen the flow of toxins into the room. He turns to another man who is doing the same thing. "Rick where the hell is Doug!?" The large burly Texan slams his hands on the wall. "Fuck if I know man!" The door opens seconds later. Two people tumble in. "Stephen! We have to initiate the fail safe!"_

_The man speaking has short black hair and bright gray eyes. He is dressed in all black except for a bright fuchsia bow tie. The other man who came in was Doug. He runs in, grabbing Wheatley by the shoulders. "Craig's right! Everyone is dying! This is our last chance!" Wheatley breaks away shaking his head. "W-We haven't tested it properly yet!" "Well no time like the present man!" Rick shouts. Wheatley backs into the wall. The air is starting to smell funny. "W-What if it doesn't work!? What if it _kills _me!?" Craig throws his hands up. "Take a look around Steve! Fact: You will die if we don't do this!" Wheatleys throat is seizing up. "D-Do you smell n-neurotoxin?" He chokes out. They all look up. There is a sort of sick green haze filling the room. "We have to get out of here the only safe room now is the transfer room." Doug says rushing to the door. "Come on Stephen." Wheatley nods reluctantly. He and Rick snatch their coats from the air ducts and run out with Craig and Doug._

_Every room they pass is the same. People claw frantically at locked doors. Choking to death on poison. The halls are littered with trampled bodies. Wheatley tries to not be sick. He can't stand the sight of blood or death. It's completely revolting. The four men rush into a small mostly empty room. Craig hacks the control panel at the door. He turns back to the others after a moment. "Okay I sealed us off. She can't get at us, for now. That also means we're getting no fresh air. With the four of us, the size of the room, our erratic breathing patterns. We have ten minutes at best. Maybe less." "Stop being such a fucking point-dexter and help us strap him in." Wheatley lies against a flat metal table, shirt off. It sits up right at a seventy-five degree angle. They strap his arms and legs to it. "Why does it have to be me?" He whines eyeing the small unimpressive thing that would house his consciousness after this. "We built the whole thing around you man. Shouldn't have volunteered." Rick drawls. "You're the only one who can distract her long enough for us to take her off-line." Craig adds._

_"__What if I can't get back in my body? I don't want to be a little metal ball for the rest of forever." Wheatley says finally voicing his real apprehension about the plan. Doug smiles reassuringly. "That's why we built the back-up right?" Wheatley nods weakly. "R-Right..." That back up will be no replacement for his real body. No mater how detailed they made it. They are covering parts of his body in a cold clear gel. Sticking suction pads to the spots. Each pad has a thin wire coming from it. Rick crosses the room. He sets up the small metal ball, plugging various wires into it's ports. "Time's running out! She's breaking in!" Craig shouts, his voice shakes as much as the room they are in. "We're a go! Doug hit it!" Rick yells over the growing noise. Wheatleys eyes grow wide. "WAIT, WAIT! WHAT IF THIS _HURTS_?!" Doug slams a button on a keyboard next to Wheatleys slab._

_The most intense pain shoots through him. Then there is blackness._

_Sequence Interruption_

_Memory#: 315 Terminated_

_Sleep Mode Deactivated_

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**Bang.** Wheatley fell out of bed. "Again...?" He groaned. Just as well he couldn't remember what he was dreaming about. So what if it was interrupted? **Bang. **He crawled from the room. He remembered somethings though. **Bang.** Neurotoxin for one. Not that he particularly wanted to remember that kind of detail. _**BANG.**_ "Chell..." He reached up for her doorknob but stopped. There was someone talking. Was it her? He pressed his ear to the door. "...remember when he tried to kill you with spike plates? Or perhaps when he tried to get you to kill yourself? You came back and all he wanted was for you to jump to your death." He frowned. "I knew it..." He pushed the door open roughly. It was quiet. Then the cube spoke up. "Leave pervert." He glared and crawled over to Chell who was still kicking her head-board.

"Piss off cube! I caught you this time. I'm going to wake her up right now and tell her that you're the one giving her nightmares about me!" He grabbed her shoulders gently. "Get out!" It hissed furiously at him. He ignored it and shook Chell slowly. "Chell? Hey Luv? Wake up. You need to get up. It's, it is fairly urgent." Her eyes flutter open. His face is inches from hers. She flails and knocks him away. "Whoa, wait it's me!" She scowls. "What are you doing!?" She spat unwrapping herself from her blankets. He stood pointing over her. "That thing is giving you nightmares!" She glanced at the cube. "What?" "It's talking, well it was talking to you! While you slept! Telling you things about back then after... a-after I uh..." He turned from her. He hated thinking about it. "You know!" He blurted out. She eyed the cube. She did know what he meant. It wasn't out of the question that it might be doing something like that. They had already agreed it was evil but... "Are you really going to believe that moron over me?" It cooed to her. Wheatley crawled on to her bed yelling loudly. "I am NOT a MORON!" "He's too violent to be around! Get rid of him!"

Chell pulled her knees to her chest. This is too much right now. It's _too_ damn early for this. Wheatley gave a short laugh. "It's you she should get rid off! At least I'm not reminding her of the worst moments of her life!" The cube sniggered viciously. "You idiot! You think you don't remind her!? You think she doesn't remember _this_ every time she looks at you!?" The camera in its side sputtered to life rapidly. Chell and Wheatley stared blankly when a large picture of Him flashed up on her blue wall. The picture was still, frozen in the middle of something. His face was tense, hateful, disgusted. Scuffed and dirty as if He were in a fight. His blue eyes blemished with that bright orange ring. They glanced at each other. They both knew what was happening in the still. Then the image began to move accompanied with loud audio. "AM I BEING TO VAUGE!? I _LOATH_ YOU! YOU SMUGLY QUIET, AWFUL JUMPSUITED, _MONSTER_ OF A WOMAN!" Wheatley screamed at the cube to stop. Chell curled in on herself further. That was hard enough to hear the first time. The picture fizzled for a moment then flicked back on. It was Him again, still hateful but slightly fearful now. More bruised than He was earlier. It played again, His voice drenched with hostility. "WHAT!? ARE YOU _STILL ALIVE_!? YOU ARE _JOKING_ YOU HAVE _GOT_ TO BE _KIDDING_ ME!" Chell covered her ears with her hands. Tears pricking the corners of her eyes. It was right she had never forgotten that. How despondent and angry he had been. Disappointed that she had not properly _died. _At that moment she wish she had. She almost wished she could now. "_STOP_!" Wheatley shouted chucking one of her pillows at picture died for good this time. The room fell silent. Painfully, suffocatingly silent.

He grabbed her shoulders. Turning her to face him. "I-It's just trying to wind you up! A-All that! I-It's over now! I-I didn't mean any of it! I could _never _hate you Luv! _Never_!" She wanted to trust him. She wanted to believe that but it was _so hard_. So hard when he was using the same voice and looking at her with the same face as Him. She pushed away, curling around herself again. "Leave." She said as steadily and clearly as she could. He shook his head trying to grab her again. "N-No I-" She smacked his hands. "OUT!" He fell off the bed, absolutely terrified. He scrambled across the floor and out of the room slamming the door. He smacked his head into the wall next to it. As much as he hated it. _Abhorred_ being referred to as one. He _knew_ he was. The worlds single most, unparalleled _moron_. The door opened. "Chell!" he gasped. He had to explain. He didn't want to be kicked out. He needed to stay here with her. He wanted to help her, to be with her. The cube tumbled out of the doorway. He stood behind it and she stared up at him. Scowling, with moist cheeks and bloodshot eyes. She was crying. He watched helplessly as tears ran down her face. "N-No...P-Please don't..." He reached out a shaky hand but she shut the door in his face. He stumbled back into the opposite wall. Sliding down to the floor. He wanted to cry too. Why did he always make such shit decisions?

The cube was cackling softly. "She kicked you out too. So I don't know why you're laughing." He snapped at it. "Oh she'll take me back. You on the other hand..." It tone of voice was sick. It was enjoying his torment. Utterly basking in it. "She's going to kill you." He scoffed burying his head in his knees. "You're a liar. Just like Her..." It chuckled again. "Oh I am? I told her you'd hurt her again and I was right. She's in there crying right now because of you." He clenched his teeth. "No it's because of you. I-If you hadn't done that... I-If you didn't show her..." His voice died out. He wanted to be in there. He could help her, hold her... "Oh it's my fault? Are you sure?" It scoffed. "Well maybe if you hadn't tried to kill her-" "THAT WASN'T MY FAULT!" He wailed. "That thing _hated _her! I couldn't stop it!" He did start to cry now. Soft pinpoints of blue light emanated from the corners of his eyes. Sliding down his cheeks just under his false skin. "You were too _weak_ to stop it." The cube corrected him.

He slid off the wall to the floor starting to sob. "I-I wanted it to stop... I just... it felt so good..." He whimpered. It was true though he didn't like to admit. Even now looking back on it with a clear head. Everything he had done was wrong. He had been so wrong about everything. Knowing that however didn't make the memory of how _amazing_ it felt any weaker. Owning everything, possessing the whole of the facility. Even her. It was bloody fantastic. Making her, _forcing_ her solve his tests. Knowing he _could_ force her, that had been the best part. He owned her, _controlled_ her. It was almost better than testing itself. "You're too weak to stop it even now." The cube tittered, still getting off on his pitiful state. He shuddered and huddled against the wall. Curled tightly into the fetal position. "I-I don't w-want to h-hurt her..." He blubbered. "You _will!_" It spat. "The itch will take over. It will consume you and you will _destroy her._" He turned away from the cube, whining pathetically. Crying uncontrollably. It was right he was too weak. A worthless stupid loser that could eradicate anything good he came into contact with.

"And s-she's..." He croaked to himself. "She's s-so good..." There would be no punishment in the world, not even Her, that would be enough for him if he broke Chell in pursuit of his own selfish pleasure, again. All she had been was good to him. Saving him, allowing him to live in her home. Even after all he did. Even though he couldn't stop himself from falling to corruption. Even though he wouldn't be able to stop it now. He _couldn't_ let it get that far. He would stay for now, out of her way. If the Itch got any worse he would leave. He'd make himself leave. It be better for her. He could hear something scooting across the floor but didn't turn around. A tiny hand tapped his shoulder. They were too small to be Chells. Her door hadn't even opened. "Copilot Wheatley." Spencer whispered. He shifted his shoulders. "Not, not now mate." Spencer backed up and looked around. He walked to the adjacent door and turned the knob. letting himself into the room. "Lady?"

* * *

"OUT!" Chell snapped. She watched as Wheatley toppled out of the bed and scrabbled across her floor and out of the room. He looked terrified. 'Good.' She thought bitterly. "Nice one." The cube said haughtily when the door closed. She glared at it. This thing was as good as gone but she couldn't even look at it now. She brushed at the torrent of tears streaming from her eyes and hopped off the bed. She picked it up ignoring it's protests. "Don't put me out there with that idiot!" She sat it in front of the door and opened it. "Chell!" She cringed. She couldn't look at him either. She pushed the cube out, grabbing the door handle. She glared up at him. He looked so distressed and broken. She wanted to care. Hug him and tell him it was okay. Unfortunately it wasn't and she needed to be away from him. "N-No...P-Please don't..." He reached out his hand but she pulled the door shut. She fell against it and slid to the floor. Fresh tears ran down her face. She could hear him from behind the door. Probably continuing his argument with the cube. She jumped when he suddenly yelled again. "THAT WASN'T MY FAULT!"

She rose from the floor and face planted in her bed. Crying harder now. She knew it wasn't his fault. What just happened wasn't either. He was just trying to warn her. Trying to stop her nightmares. Just like he did the yesterday. He calmed her down. Changed her dream. It had taken a pleasant turn. They ran out into the field and he promised not to leave her side. Held her hand, reassured her. '...after I got you to stop kicking the wall...' She hadn't even paid attention to that comment when he said it. She'd been too busy thinking about the cube. Selfishly wanting to keep it even though she could see how afraid he was of it. Or maybe what it was capable of. Well now they knew didn't they? What it could do was effectively drive a wedge between an already fragile bond. Shatter it. Make them second guess themselves. Well her, it could make _her_ second guess. Wheatley had been determined not to let it drive her away. Tried to tell her what she already knew but was too blinded by rage and pain to consider. It was actively _trying _to upset her. 'Wind her up.' As he'd said and she'd allowed it to. Allowed herself to consider even for a moment the the Wheatley that was now probably cowering in his room was still the one who had said those things to her. She took her anger out on him instead of the thing she would have punished. Sure she kicked it out of her room but she didn't yell at it. She yelled at him. He wasn't trying to remind her of that time. He was trying to comfort her. Let her know it wouldn't be like that again. _He _didn't want to see her cry. That cube though...

Her door creaked open and she tensed up. "Lady?" Spencer? She rolled over wiping her face. It was him. He shut the door behind himself and tiptoed to her bed. "Lady." Why was he whispering. Spencer was always loud no matter the situation or time of day. She sat up and tried to smile at him. He clambered up on her bed sitting on his knees in front of her. He was frowning. "Lady." She nodded. He turned his head to the door furrowing his brow, frowning harder. He pointed. "It's Wheatley." She tipped her head to the side. He puffed exasperatedly. "Get Wheatley." He pointed to the door again. She shook her head looking away. She still couldn't face him. Not because she was angry but she'd been so rude to him. He probably didn't want to see her anyway. Spencer slid off the bed and grabbed her arm pulling at her. She shook her head. He mimicked her action pulling her off the bed. "Spencer, no." He shook his head again and pulled her to the door. He let go and stood of to the side pointing again. "Lady, get Wheatley." He was so insistent and this was the first time she'd heard him say something that wasn't about space. She sighed and opened the door. The cube was pushed all the way to the end of the hall. Wheatley was curled on the floor, face pressed into the wall. He was shaking but it wasn't cold. She bit her lip. He's crying. She glanced at the cube. It was silent. It wasn't even humming. She backed into her room but something was pushing against her legs. "Go Lady!" Spencer urged. She stumbled into the hall.

Wheatleys long awkward fingers griped his shoulders tighter. She carefully dropped to her knees and reached her hand out. She hovered for a moment then placed her hand on his. He flinched pulling his hand away. She bit down harder on her lip making it bleed slightly. "I-I'm sorry Chell..." His voice was cracked and unsteady. "I'm sorry a-about everything. I'm such a weak bastard... Too weak to stop it... Too weak to help you..." She put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it lightly. He rolled his head to the ceiling. Staring at it with blank eyes. They didn't seem to be glowing as much as they usually did. "You might as well kill me." His eyes drifted to her, staring through her listlessly. "Better off if you did..." His eyes went back to the ceiling. She grabbed his arm and slid him a bit from the wall. "W-What are you doing." He was incredibly heavy but she continued to drag him. He'd get up at some point. Even if he didn't she could just drag him into the room. He flailed and pulled his arm from her getting on all fours. His head down so he didn't have to look at her. "What's gotten into you? I mean if you're gonna kill me that's alright. You should probably go at it out here though. It'll mess up your room." She rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm again trying to pull him to his feet. "Oh are you trying to throw me out? It's a good Idea I suppose." He started to stand up. "Let ol' Wheatley rot. More punishing than a quick death isn't it? I mean-" She closed her eyes. He had no self esteem. None at all. "Shut up." He looked away his eyes dulling further. They were hardly even blue now. "Sorry..." She pulled him into her room and shut the door.

"Alright Spencer?" Wheatley asked noticing the small robot was sitting on Chells bed. Spencer smiled and climbed over the foot board. Hopped up to him and grinned. "Alright Copilot!" Wheatleys eyes went wide. "W-What?" Spencer just grinned wider and bounded behind the confused giant, leaving the room. "H-He answered me... He's never done that..." Like every other time he'd asked the obsessed robot he expected no response. He was incapable of responding properly wasn't he? Chell was surprised as well but pushed it aside to focus on mending their dilapidated friendship once and for all. She sat on the bed and patted the spot next to her. He looked away. "N-No I should stand." She frowned. It seemed he'd decided to keep his distance from her as well. She patted the spot again. If she was willing to break that rule for the moment he should be too. "R-Really I think it's better if I don't." She crossed her arms giving him a hard look. He crumbled and slid over to the bed sitting as far from her as he could manage. She fought a smile. That look always worked. She pulled her legs on the bed turning to him. He was still avoiding her eyes. "I'm sorry." He looked over. "N-No I-" "You didn't do anything." His eyes brightened. "B-But-" She shook her head. If he started talking she'd never get anything out. "I should have listened to you before." His eyes continued to get brighter. "N-No, I-I mean what do I-" "You were right." He sputtered his eyes back to their regular luminescent state. "I-I'm never right... Y-you shouldn't-" Chell put her finger to his mouth. His cheeks turned blue.

She dropped her hand and stared at him. It was pointless to suppress her urge to hug him now. He really needed one. Honestly she probably needed it more than he did. She lunged at him and he yelped as she threw her arms around his torso. Her arms reached just enough to lace her fingers on his back. She nuzzled into his chest. It was warm and glowing. She could hear the soft whir of his electronics underneath. He slowly wrapped his arms around her. She was warm and so soft. He closed his eyes. Sighing and holding her tighter. He couldn't believe this simple gesture could make everything alright. It was almost like that whole incident had not happened. Her strong embrace and the feel of her face rubbing into him. It was wonderful. He held her tighter and she shifted a bit. It was better than wonderful. It was perfect. If he could stay like this forever he would. His fingers dug into her shoulders and she sifted again grunting. He squeezed his eyes shut. The longer he held her the more un-ignorable the feeling became. He didn't want it to ruin this moment. He pulled her closer and she patted his back but he didn't want to let her go. The feeling increased. Crawling through him, collecting in a hot uncomfortable spot below his waist.

He unwrapped his arms from her and grabbed her shoulders. She gasped and he shoved her back onto the bed. He climbed on top of her. She looked scared but didn't say anything. Just stared at him with questioning eyes. "I-I can't control myself." Was his unsatisfactory answer to her look. She squirmed but he pinned her shoulders to the bed. "I-I'm really sorry Luv... I really am... forgive me okay...?" The Itch burned through him as he ran his hand down off her shoulder and over her chest. He grabbed a handful of her shirt and pulled. Keeping her pinned he pulled until it began to rip. Her shirt split and finally gave way. His hand slid to her neck as he grabbed the small odd fabric that covered her soft looking mounds.

* * *

**Note: Did I trick you? I hope I did cause that was the real present. Hehehe oh man things got pretty rapey there! Guess you have to wait until the next chapter. (Getting good at this cliffhanger thing huh?)**


	10. I Want Something

**Note: Feel like this took a while. Here is though. Hope you like it. R/R**

* * *

GLaDOS leaned heavily in her throne. A wicked smile gracing Her bright red lips. _"__Give me vocal control." _She said clearly. "As you wish?" The cube stated happily. A small microphone snaked from the ceiling of Her chamber stopping in front of her face. A large monitor came forth from the wall. It flicked and showed an image of Chells bedroom from a low vantage point. Better than nothing. As the image came to life a voice filled the room. "It's you she should get rid off! At least I'm not reminding her of the worst moments of her life!" She snickered viciously. This was going to be a lot of fun. She leaned forward slightly speaking to the small microphone. _"__You idiot! You think you don't remind her!? You think she doesn't remember _this _every time she looks at you!?"_ She tapped quickly at a keyboard in front of her. A black window appeared on her large screen.

_Access room video files? Y/N_

Her smile widened as She pulled two different files from the archives. She set the first one to play. She tapped a key and laughed loudly. The look on their faces were priceless. Caught off guard by Her devious move. Now that she was not in the facility she didn't hold back her emotions. _'Highly satisfying.'_ She thought as Wheatleys voice filled the room again. At his insistence for it to stop She played the second file. Even seeing his over the top reactions was a nice victory. Something obscured Her view for a moment but it passed. She turned the camera off and watched with depraved glee as the not-so-mute lunatic kicked the moron from her room. _'Perfect.' _She was enjoying herself so much. Though she knew her fun would come to an end. Probably soon. That lunatic would surely get rid of Her sweet little spy after this. Well as long as She had this time. Maybe She could get her to kill him. She tapped a key to turn back on the mic.

_"__Nice one."_ She shuddered lightly as the malice riddled look she gave the cube. _'Such anger. That's good.' _The view shifted. She frowned. She was kicking it out quicker than She expected. She might have underestimated the bond between her and the moron. "Don't put me out there with that idiot!?" The cube whined. GLaDOS pursed Her lips. _'My sentiments exactly.' _The image settled on the idiot in mention. _'Well this could be fun as well. Put that software to work.' _She laughed lightly. "She kicked you out too. So I don't know why you're laughing." The dunce snapped back. She began to smile again. _"__Oh, she'll take me back. You on the other hand..."_ I was so satisfying to see him so broken like this. Maybe she could get him to cry. A lesser feet than getting to mute to cry but since she'd already managed that. _"__She's going to kill you."_ She said casually. He scoffed burying his head in his knees. "You're a liar. Just like Her..." She laughed again. She loved when She could spy so successfully. She thought for a moment then responded. _"__Oh I am? I told her you'd hurt her again and I was right. She's in there crying right now because of you."_ She said through a grin. "No it's because of you. I-If you hadn't done that... I-If you didn't show her..." She bit back another laugh and continued. _"__Oh it's my fault? Are you sure?"_ She scoffed. _"__Well maybe if you hadn't tried to kill her-"_ "THAT WASN'T MY FAULT!" He wailed. She tapped the keyboard. That moron was so loud! "That thing _hated _her! I couldn't stop it!" _'Oh he's crying. Wonderful. Phase two.' "You were too weak to stop it."_ She corrected.

He slid the floor starting to sob. "I-I wanted it to stop... I just... it felt so good..." He whimpered. Yes She already knew how good it felt to have a healthy murderous goal. She was counting on him to still feel that way about it. That would help with phase two considerably. She addressed him again. _"__You're too weak to stop it even now."_ She was really enjoying the look on his face. He curled into the fetal position. She was loving it even. "I-I don't w-want to h-hurt her..." He blubbered. _"__You will!"_ She spat. This was it. _"__The itch will take over. It will consume you and you will destroy her." _Phase two under way.

She watched a little longer. As She hoped the mute foolishly bought the idiot in the room with her. She hopped Her software was working properly.

* * *

Chell wedged her arms between her and Wheatley and pushed away. She held her chest panting. He was really crushing her. She was getting no air for a second there. She looked up at him. He had that same faraway look as before. He was trembling and muttering to himself. He looked sufficiently horrified though he was staring at nothing. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him. His head wobbled back and forth but he didn't react. Still chattering to himself. She hit him in the chest. Nothing. She stared at him a moment longer then smacked him across the face. His eyes glowed brightly and he rounded on her. "Your shirt's still on!" She raised her brow looking down at herself. What was he talking about? He leaped off the bed looking even more terrified. "I-I have to go!" That was too real, way too real. He'd never experienced anything like that. He didn't even think his programming could create images like that. Well, he did dream didn't he, but no, those were just repays of his memory right? He was a robot. He didn't have an imagination. He couldn't simply create images like that and why had he ripped her clothes off?

She stood and tried to grab him. He dodged her and edged to the door. He'd only felt that out of control one other time. He hurt her then and he was sure he'd been hurting her in that odd delusion. He had to leave before it actually happened. As nice as her embrace had been it was too dangerous to do anything like it again. She was coming toward him slowly. "What's wrong?" He turned to the door. He couldn't tell her. Not after all this. She wouldn't just kick him out of the room this time. Her hand fell on the small of his back "Tell me." He shied away from her, moving closer to the door. "N-Nothing is wrong. I-I'm fine really. J-Just need to go. So uh you, you can sleep right? I mean been a long night hasn't it? Need your head straight if you're gonna deal with uh you know that thing. S-So I'm, I'm just gonna pop off for a bit, let you rest and all that." He reached for the door handle. "Wheatley." He cringed. His hand tensed and he curled his fingers in away from the knob. "Tell me." She said again sternly but he could also hear the concern.

He fidgeted wishing he hadn't taken his tie pin off. He could practically feel her eyes digging holes in his back. He hunched over. He just wanted to leave. He never wanted to let her know about the Itch. If he could just escape her room he could run out and, and... 'Abandon her?' He shut his eyes tightly. No, that was a right shit idea. He couldn't leave her. Not here with that thing and only Spencer to look after her. Which would be more like her looking after him anyway. Why did even think that running away would be a good idea? 'Full of them, bloody full of them.' He thought distantly. That was him in a nutshell. Even She said it. The absolute King of 'Really Shit Ideas.' "Wheatley." He caved, she'd find out anyway. She was too clever and he was horrible liar. "Alright! Okay you, you dragged it out of me! I d-didn't want to tell you..." He turned to her slowly. Her hands were on her hips. "Y-You're going to hate me if I do." She shook her head and put her hand on his arm give a gentle reassuring squeeze. He flinched and pulled away. She drew her hand back frowning. "D-Don't touch me please!" He stared at the floor. "Y-You make it worse..." He admitted. The concern in her face grew. "What?" His lips twitched and he examined the floor and his feet thoroughly. "T-The Itch..." He whispered quietly. She leaned forward. "I can't-" "The Itch!" He yelled turning from her again. "It's the bloody Itch okay? It's back and it's worse when I'm around you!"

She studied him. That put a few things in perspective for her. What didn't make sense was why he was feeling it at all. The Itch had been hard-wired into the central system. Not him personally. Severing the connection should have freed him from its power. She didn't really know that much about technology but she was sure he didn't take anything from the chassis with him. If he had he'd probably be more knowledgeable. He was still the same bumbling, dare she say, idiot as he had been before. Not that she minded. He was better this way. It was who he was and she wouldn't want to change that. He must be feeling something amazingly similar. With nothing else to compare it to he'd just believe it was the same. She twisted up her face. What would he be feeling that was like that kind of euphoria? What would the scientists have based it off of? It would have to be something spectacular. She tried to think about the way he had reacted to it before it began to wear off. They way his face contorted with pleasure. His voice shook and he was out of breath if he tried to speak. Now that she thought about it, his face had flushed blue then too. The noise he made when it happened. Like moans. Pleasure dripping moans almost like he... Her face got hot. It was like he was having an orgasm. Of course, what better frame of reference for a human could there be? There was nothing like that pleasure. The sort of toe curling spike of euphoria that it could bring about was the best thing humans could experience. Even though it had worn off like a drug, no high could give you that kind of short breathed feeling.

She certainly was no expert on the subject. As far as she knew she'd never been intimate with anyone before Aperture. When she had gained her freedom she had done some... exploring but always alone. Even though she didn't know much she was positive it was some kind of sexual attraction he was feeling. Why else would it be worse around her? She wasn't sure she actually wanted to press this issue now. Knowing he was having those kinds of feelings about her. Why on Earth he had suddenly shouted that she was still wearing a shirt. She sighed, it was wasn't going to help things if they didn't talk though. She was sure this was scary for him. Considering what happened last time he'd felt it. She reached up and grabbed his shoulder turning him around. He jumped away. "No don't!" She shook her head grabbing him again. He eyed her, upset. "Didn't I say that makes it worse? Were you, were you listening at all? You should have. At least be concerned! I could hurt you, again." She shook her head still and pulled him into another hug. He planted his hands on her shoulders squirming. "N-No I'm not joking! Let go!" The Itch flashed though his body again accumulating in that same agitated spot on his pelvis. "P-Please... it's dangerous I-I'm gonna hurt you Luv." He whined, finally tearing her from him. "It's fine." She said ducking under his hands and gabbing him. "I-It bloody well isn't!" He pushed her off again. "Are you doing this for fun? Just having a laugh at vulnerable old Wheatley? Because if you haven't noticed I'm not laughing and this is really upsetting." She frowned. "You aren't going to hurt me." He turned his head gripping her shoulders. "I already hurt you..."

She shook her head though he wasn't looking. "You didn't." He let her go and backed into the door. "Yes I did... Or I thought I did." He groaned. "No. I need to go before I actually do it." She crossed her arms not wanting to ask this question. "Do what?" His face went blue and he spun around, jerking the door open. "I have to- I can't stay!" She reached out and grabbed his shirt. He wobbled, one of his legs flying forward. His arms windmilled and he managed to stay up right. "Let go! Why are you insisting on torturing me!? If it's a punishment then let me know. At least then it doesn't seem needlessly cruel!" She pulled him back in. Rushed around him and shut the door. She pressed herself against it. "Tell me!" He gave her an icy stare. "Why? Why do you need to know? So you have something else to hate about me!? Is it gonna make it easier to throw me out knowing I thought I pinned you to your bed and tore all your clothes off? I suppose It wont make things better to tell you that I have no IDEA why I imagined that or that I could even have delusions like that!" He grabbed his hair and began pacing back and forth. "I don't even know why I pulled them off! What purpose did it serve!?" Her face burned. He'd ripped her clothes off? She could see he really had no idea why. He _was_ a robot. What would he know about that? She bit her lip. Even if he had once been human like Her (Which she highly suspected was true.) he obviously didn't remember anything about it. He seemed to assume he had always been an android. Well She had not known about her life as Caroline until she was staring Her in the face. It was a safe bet that just like herself, any and all previous memories of a time before Aperture were long gone.

He was still pacing and blathering on. She tried to tune back in. "...I just! Ugh! I don't-I can't handle it! Or stop it! I don't know what to do! I just, when I feel it I know I want _something_. I just don't know what it is! I don't want to hurt you or force you to give me whatever it is!" She watched him. She didn't know what to say but she needed to say _something_. She wished she was better at talking people down. She had to try though. The alternative to a verbal explanation that what he felt was normal and not dangerous was... Well they certainly were _not_ about to do that. "Calm down." He shook his head and gave a short laugh. "I can't! Believe me Luv, if I could I would, of course but I can't." She tapped the door. "You wont hurt me." He laughed again but stopped pacing. "Yea? Like last time I felt it?" She sighed. "It's not the same." He waved her off. "You wouldn't know would you? Never felt it before." She lifted from the door. "Do you trust me?" He stared with an odd expression. "O-Of course I do Luv..." She walked up to him he slouched and took as step back. "It's not the same." He twisted his hands together. "L-Look I do trust you, really I do. I-It's just that-" She prodded him in the chest. "Want to test me?" He rubbed the spot looking hurt. "N-Not particularly. I'd rather not, you're are actually really scary." She shook her head. "Want me to test?" She looked up at him knowingly. "O-Oh.. well no... not, not at all but-" She closed her eyes raising her hands, palms to the ceiling. "Not the same." She walked around him and sat on her bed. He turned on the spot watching her. "I-If I do believe you... and i-it's not the Itch. T-Then what the bloody hell is it?"

She shifted and shook her head, her face going red again. That wasn't a conversation they were going to have. "W-Well what am I suppose to do about it? What if it never goes away?" The red hue deepened. She considered for a short moment to tell him how people normally got rid of that sort of feeling. However she did not want to talk about something that embarrassing. She didn't even know if he was properly equipped for it. She really didn't want to think about that either. He watched her impatiently. Silently pleading for an answer or solution. She had neither to give. Then again she could... She shook her head. Why couldn't she stop that idea from surfacing? He groaned and dropped to the floor. "I should just go shouldn't I? Before I really hurt you." She made a similar noises and flopped back on her bed. "Don't go." He was quiet. He looked from her to the door. She wasn't like him. She probably knew what she was talking about. He could trust her. If she didn't feel like he was a danger, maybe it would be alright. He really, _really_ didn't want to leave her. After a moment she felt her bed sag. He lied next to her face down. "If you're sure Luv."

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**Note: So there you are. I'm sorry no smut yet. Chell simply wont allow it. Goodness GLaDOS is mean. I wonder what phase two is. I wonder what software she is talking about. Hmmm more answers, or not, in the upcoming chapter.**


	11. Ignorance is Bliss

**Note: Sorry this chapter is so short. So so short... I am sorry. R/R**

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Everything was still for a while. When Wheatley finally decided to move the sun was up and Chell was sleeping soundly on her back next to him. He sat up, staring as her chest rose and fell slowly. The Itch prickled at the base of his skull. He looked away. He wanted to leave but she had asked him to stay. He didn't want to go back out in the hall with that cube. He was stuck and even with the threat of the Itch burning through him staying here, with her, was certainly the lesser of two evils. He sighed and looked back at her. Her shirt was hiked up around her waist slightly and he could see the olive skin of her stomach. He stared at her face as his hand slid across the bed over to her. He brushed her skin still staring at her face. Her mouth twitched but was still other than that. He slid his hand on to her stomach. She was really soft. He screwed up his face, studying her as he slid his hand further up. This time she shifted. He froze but she didn't wake. The Itch tore through him as he continued to push his hand further up. His face burned and he could feel his cooling fans kicking in. As his fingers brushed something rigid at the base of her rib cage his mind screamed at him. _'What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?' _He bit his lip pulling his hand back slightly. She sighed, her head lolling to the left. "I-I just need to do this alright?" He muttered to himself.

**Oh yes you should. Nice to do whatever you want to her doesn't it? **He drew his hand away from her completely. She rolled on to her side. "W-What?" He hissed to the still air. **Why'd ya stop? She feels good right? **He grabbed his head turning from her. "W-Who are you?" The strange intrusive voice scoffed. **I'm you. Well I suppose I represent repressed desires. **He shook his head still gripping handfuls of his hair. "N-No go away." **Can't, been hardwired into the system. **_'Who let you in here?' _He slid off the bed. This was too much like then. Voices yelling in his head and not always at him. "Go away both of you." _'At least I've always been here.' _**Too bad I know more about this than you do. **He shut his eyes. "What are you talking about?" He whispered slowly. _'You don't want to ask that.' _**Oh I just know how to get rid of the itch is all. **His eyes flew open. "W-What!?" _'Don't listen to him mate!" _**She couldn't tell you but I can. **He shook his head again but before he could respond the strange voice spoke up. **Oh yes, she **_**does **_**know. She just didn't want to tell you. Afraid of what you'll do. After hearing you were day dreaming about raping her, she should be. **He pulled his knees to his chest. "What? What does that mean?" A tense feeling like someone trying to drive a nail through his head pushed at the very top of his skull. When it broke through he knew what the word the voice used meant. He suddenly knew what a lot of things meant.

He darted away from the bed and pressed himself against the far wall. "N-No I-I would n-never do that!" **You want to do that. **He buried his head in his hands. "No no no no no! I don't! I can't, I wont hurt her!" **Oh please. Look I already showed you how to get started. Clothes off. The rest comes easy. **He wished he didn't but knew exactly what 'the rest' was. He clawed at his face, for the first time truly understanding the phrase 'ignorance is bliss.' It had always seemed like such tripe. He hated being ignorant so why should humans think it was blissful in any way? Now he wished more than ever he was still ignorant about this. Unaware of the _something _he wanted from her. _'You don't have to obtain that something the way _it _wants you to.' _He moved his hands. "H-How..." **Yea alright she could **_**let **_**you but do you really think she's going to do that? **_'She could, she cares about you mate.' _She did seem to care about him. **Don't be so optimistic. You know how easily you get on her bad side. **He looked over at the bed. Her back was still to him. Still asleep. **The best way to get something is by force right? **_'Wrong! Look I don't know who put you here but-' _**She put me here. **His eyes went wide. **Yup. Installed me the day she brought you back. Haven't been activated till now.**

He gritted his teeth. That was Her real plan wasn't it? A punishment in the guise of a lost friend. She'd installed the Itch into him and this _voice_ to get him to act on the impulse. All to get him to hurt her. **Oh please She didn't need to add that. **"What?" **This body already has it. For whatever reason it was made to perfectly mirror a human. Humans all feel this, what did you say? Itch? Though obviously it's not really that is it? As I've told you. **He really wished he hadn't been told. It seemed so violent. He couldn't imagine Chell participating in or even wanting to do something like that. The voice scoffed again. **Are you even using all that helpful info I gave you? Humans do it all the time. Every chance they get. **He reluctantly scanned through the new data in his hard drive. "It says they use it to procreate. T-That means making little humans right?" **Jeeze She was right. You're a moron. **_'We have to get rid of him mate what if he's linked to her?' _**Oh sorry to say I can't do that. You can though. Why don't you give her a ring and thank her for putting me in here. Cause you my friend were greatly uninformed. **"I rather enjoyed being uninformed." He snarled. **Hey, hey how else were you going to get what you want? **"I don't want that." **Oh please. Why deny it now? You were the one sticking your hand up her shirt. **He looked away from her. He shouldn't have done that. **She's yours to do with what you like. **_'That's not true.' _He sighed she was most decidedly not his. **Then make her yours. **Why was it starting to sound like him? **Your well twice her size and much stronger. What can she do to stop you? Take her! Make her yours mate! **He hopped up and rushed to the door. "No! I wont!" He said louder than he'd meant to. As he opened the door her voice made him stop. "Wheatley?" His foot slid through the door. _'Don't turn around.' _**What does he know? **He pulled his foot back. _'I can't help you if you go back to her.' _**Don't you want the Itch to stop? **He pulled the door back. "Wheatley?" _'You _will _regret this.' _**You **_**need **_**her to make it stop. **The door latch clicked into place. _'She'll never forgive you.' _**Do you really care about that? **He turned to face her.

Chell looked worriedly at him. "Are you okay?" His face was so blank. He nodded staring right through her. She frowned and beckoned him over. They had to decide what to do about the cube. He looked away from her for a moment. An expression finally flashing up on his face. Remorse? No worse, guilt. That was silly, she didn't mind if he left. She just figured he might not want to be out there with the cube before they figured out how to get rid of it. He looked back at her looking even guiltier. She beckoned him again. Patting the spot next to her. He shuffled over but didn't sit. She sighed. "We need to get rid of the cube." He pressed himself into her wall and nodded. Why wasn't he talking? It wasn't like him to not be spitting up words a running faucet. She stood. "Whats wrong?" He pressed himself further in the wall shaking his head. Her frown deepened. 'He must be feeling the itch again.' She tried to smile reassuringly. "You won't hurt me." She walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder. He pulled away from her. "Don't be so sure." He growled edging away from her. She raised an eyebrow. Hadn't they already gotten past this? "I thought you trusted me." He gave her a fleeting look. "I do..." He whined. He turned away. "But you can't trust me..." She regarded him. She had felt for a while she still couldn't and honestly didn't want to trust him. After all that's happened now it be silly to still not. "Yes I can." She smiled again reaching out for him. He moaned and avoided her touch. "No you can't... I have to go... I'm gonna hurt you."

She stomped her foot and he looked at her a bit frightened. She was sick of this. How many times did she have to tell him he wasn't going to hurt her. What did she have to do to prove that to him? He was still cowering, eyeing her and shuffling closer to the door. She glared at him all the while. She had to. There was no other way. No other way he'd understand. A small part of her. A growing part of her, cheered. It had been waiting for her to come to this conclusion all along. She darted to him. He jumped but before he could get away she grabbed his shoulders pulling him down to her eye level. His eyes dart rapidly across her face. She shut her eyes and mashed her lips against his. The Itch shot through him like so many volts of electricity but he didn't care. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the way her hands gripped his shoulders and the feel of her soft mouth on his. She pulled away and looked at him gently. His head was muddled but there was one thing he could make out for sure. He liked that. Whatever it was he really, really liked it.

Her lips parted. Perhaps to say something but he didn't give her the chance to speak. He grabbed her. Wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back to him pressing his face to hers. She gasped slightly but didn't pull away. Instead she parted her lips again taking his bottom lip into her mouth. The Itch racked his body but he ignored it giving a soft moan as she sucked incessantly on his lip. She pushed away gasping for breath. He let her take a few short intakes before delving back in, locking his lips with hers. He gave a low growl as she began walking backward, away from him. He stepped forward not wanting to break contact with her. When she finally stopped walking she broke away grabbing his arms and spinning him around. She pushed hard against his chest sending him toppling backward.

She watched as he fell back on her bed face full of confusion. She climbed on top of him. He quickly wrapped his arms around her again as she lowered her head to kiss him again. The made out feverishly for a long while until Chell pried herself from him panting heavily. She pushed away from him lying on her back beside him. "No no no no." He whined climbing on top of her, leaning over to place his lips against hers again. She moved her head to the side making him kiss her cheek. She shook her head. He nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck. "No please I-I don't want to stop." He begged pathetically. "That was so amazing Luv, please can we keep going?" She shook her head again pushing him off. He pawed at her desperately, pulling her back on top of him. She looked at him sternly. That was all she could handle at the moment. Her baser instincts were begging as much as he was. Wanting her to ravage the poor needy robot but now wasn't the time. "Wheatley no." He grabbed her head and pressed his lips on hers muttering through the kiss. "Please please it makes it better, just please lets keep going." She looked away. She knew it did, but they couldn't do this, not yet... She smacked him on his shoulders and rolled off him again. This time rolling to the edge of the bed and sliding off. He hopped up following her. "Chell please!" She rounded on him looking angry now. "No!" He recoiled and watched her cross the room to the door.

**You pathetic bastard. Twice her size and she has total control over you. **He walked over to her as she opened the door. He reached out to grab her but hesitated. _'You're right that's the way it should be. This is her life. Everything here is hers. Even you.'_ He balled his hand up as she stepped out of the room."That's how it should be..." He muttered softly. He let his arm drop and followed her into the hallway.

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**Note: Almost smut. Just gonna sorta leave it for now, blue ball you. We will get back to this because at this point both parties are dying for a good shag. At least Wheatley will be going into it with a bit more knowledge even if he's choosing not to really utilize it. (oh why he didn't know what kissing was GLaDOS was very selective on the information she gave him access to. Also he's pretty much refusing to really look at it. Ignorance is bliss after all.)**


	12. You Can Talk?

**Note: Sorry this chapter took so long. I finally got back into my art. I had no motivation for it. That was the reason I started writing this. Since I'm all fired up again, I'm afraid the story has been shifted to the back seat. No worries I will still update of course. Even if it's a bit delayed.**

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He nearly bumped into her. She stood rigid, staring at the cube with fiery intensity. That look could cut right through him (and he was sure just about anyone caught in its path) but Wheatley seriously doubted it would work in this situation. It couldn't see. Not in a traditional sense anyway. She stared at it a minute longer then walked toward it. "You don't look broken..." It murmured. She hesitated. What did it mean by that? She moved closer to it. "Still to weak to take what you want by yourself?" It didn't sound like it was still addressing her. She looked over her shoulder. Wheatley was full blue in the face, shaking. His hands curled tightly into fists. The comment didn't mean much to her but obviously it effected him greatly. She frowned and turned back to the companion picking it up. Her lips curved further down. It surprised her how quickly she had gone from adoration to seething hatred for the thing so quickly. She couldn't feel any other way though. It constantly insulted and infuriated her friend. 'Maybe friend is an understatement now.' She thought, blushing lightly. She looked up at him. He was staring daggers at it. Chomping down on his bottom lip so vigorously his blue blood trickled down his chin. Adding to a slowly growing puddle around him contributed to by the streams emanating where his nails bit into his faux skin.

The pink demon was steadily hissing insults at him that Chell could not hear. It was taking every inch of his will power to not lash out at it especially since she was holding it now. He couldn't stand being called weak by that stupid cube. It was one thing to privately admit to his flaws. It was completely another for this, this, _thing _that he hated, to point them out. Chell walked past jerking her head toward the stairs. She looked back worriedly. It took him a second but he turned and began to follow her. She descended the stairs and was met by Spencer. He looked up to say something but stopped. Staring at the weighted companion in her hands. She smiled at him but he didn't return it. He started to frown, backing up. She raised and eyebrow, glancing down at it. It was hissing or muttering. She couldn't tell but they seemed to know what it was saying. She jumped when Wheatley put his hands on her shoulders, whispering to her urgently. "Can we please get that thing out of here?" Two warm wet spots blotted her shoulders where his hands gripped her. She nodded and walked to the door. Spencer shot around her staying well out of her way. Chell watched him as he scrambled around behind her. He looked angry but Spencer never looked angry. Upset maybe or sad but even that was rare and was usually just about space. His face was pastel yellow as he looked at the cube with a furious disdain that mirrored Wheatleys. What was it saying to them? Morbid curiosity begged her to ask but her more rational side protested. It would probably be a lot better if she didn't know.

Wheatley threw the door open and walked out with Chell following close behind. She looked back for a moment when Spencer slammed the door on her back but had no time to question his actions. "What are we doing with it? Please, please say destroying it. I'm leaning toward complete, utter destruction myself." He was digging his nails in to his palms again looking anywhere but her and the storage cube. She shrugged. She hadn't thought that far. She just didn't want it in her house any longer. He turned still trying not to give in to its taunts. He wasn't going to answer it. If he'd learned anything from Chell it's that sometimes silence was the better answer. So he focus on talking to her. "I mean do you have a hammer or something? A mashy spike plate could come in handy about now. Do you think we could find welding equipment and some spare steel around here? It be a slap dash job at best but I'm sure it would do the trick in _shutting you the FUCK UP!" _He spat at it unable to ignore it any longer. He stalked up to it cocking his arm back. Her breath hitched. She knew he wasn't after her but she couldn't help but be fearful of the enraged giant advancing on her. Her whole body seized up as he brought his hand down smacking the cube away from her. She stared with frightful eyes. Holding her breath as he scowled down at where it fell.

His eyes darted rapidly. Double taking when he noticed her. She was shaking, looking at him. Scared out of her mind. He gasped turning to her, raising his hands in surrender and shaking his head. "N-No Luv I-I'm sorry I wasn't-" He stopped suddenly doubling over and backing away from her. He gripped his head screaming. It felt like it was on fire and a million voices were sounding off at once. Nothing made sense. Everything wavered in front of him and he fell to his knees. She dropped next to him tentatively touching his shoulders. His screams were ear shattering. She tried to yell over him. "Wheatley!?" What was wrong with him? She backed away hands over her ears. She looked over. The cube was vibrating. Another grating sound hit her ears. It was coming from the house. Spencer. She stood pressing the heals of her hands harder against her head. She knew the cube must e messing with them. She thought frantically. What could she do, how could she stop it? She rushed around the house to her garden shed. She hesitantly pulled her hands away from her ears and pulled the door open. The two robots screeches ricocheted off the walls of her skull as she searched around, finally producing her thick metal ax.

She ran back over to the cube as quickly as she could hefting the heavy tool. At this point Wheatley was full on the ground. Trashing and tearing patches of his hair out. She flinched, feeling sick at the sight of him. Whatever was going on was making him crazy. She could only imagine what Spencer was like in the house. All the more reason to put an end to the cube. She ran up to it trying to block out the screams. She put a foot on top of it and raised her weapon. "Don't do this! It's him you should kill! DO IT! KILL HIM WHILE I STILL HAVE HIM INCOMPASITATED!" That was definitely a confession. She set her jaw, bringing down the ax with as much force as she could muster up. _Swack! _The sharp edge lodged deep in its hull and it gave off a shill cry, rivaling Spencers in pitch. Arcs of electricity shot from its gash. She braced her foot against its shell. Tearing the ax out, she raised it well above her head. In a broken mechanical voice it weakly plead for its life. She glared and swung her weapon home again. _Swack!_ Widening the gash, cutting deeper into its circuitry. It sputtered, it's cries fizzled and broken. She brought the ax down three, four, five more times. It stopped screaming. Everyone stopped screaming. She dropped the heavy tool and rushed to Wheatleys side. He was heaving short unsteady breaths into the dirt. Kicking up small dust clouds.

"B-Bloody hell..." He gasped rolling on to his side. "T-That... h-horrid." He looked up at her with unsteady eyes. "H-Hear... S-Spence?" She glanced over her shoulder. It was silent over there as well. She looked back at him shaking her head. "C-Check... s-smaller... b-be hurt." He tried to lift himself from the ground but she waved her hands patting his shoulder and standing. She could check on him. As she turned around someone shouted to her. She turned back groaning slightly. Now was such a bad time for him to be here. Aedin rushed up the walkway to her house stopping near Wheatley. "Oh man are you alright?" Wheatley scowled at him but he didn't seem to notice. He looked from Chell to Wheatley to the cube and back. "I-I heard all this screaming coming from up here..." He leaned over offering his hand to Wheatley who was struggling to stand. Sitting on his hands and knees with his forehead touching the ground. Seeing Aedins offer he growled and feebly knocked his hand away. "D-Do it... my s-self." Aedin shrugged and walked over to Chell.

**Wow, you do **_**not **_**like that guy. **He dropped to his elbows trying to shake off that last of whatever had just happened. "S-Shut... up." **Really tried to fry your circuits didn't it? **He groaned, finally swaying up, unsteadily rocking on his knees. Half way there now. **I guess she's good for more than just that huh? **He wobbled planting one foot on the ground. "Go away!" He snapped at the voice. He finally stood. Watching with growing disapproval as Aedin got far to hands-y with Chell again. **Handling your property without permission. Rude. **He shook his head. No, not his. If she was okay with that smelly sack of meat being close to her than he could be to. **Whoa! I thought it was just jealousy but you legit hate that guy don't you? **What did that mean? What was jealousy? **Jeeze! Take a minute! Get acquainted with that file I dropped in there! **"No!" He hissed. He'd never look through that stuff. Never. He turned away from the other two. He could be more okay with _that _if he didn't watch. **And after she snogged you for half and hour. Very rude. **_"__Why are you trying to wind him up?" _It scoffed. **All I was programmed for. He's never gonna take her on his own, and she seems set on blue balling him.** "Go away, go away, go away, go away, go away." He hated those voices. He hated that She had messed with his head. Hated that in the back of his mind he did know what those odd expressions meant. What he hated more than anything was finding himself agreeing with the foreign voice more than his own conscience.

A gentle touch bushed his arm. "W-What!?" He whipped around. She smiled worriedly at him. "Want to join us?" He shook his head. "I'm sorry join what, what are you on about?" She motioned toward Aedin. "Going into town." He looked questionably at her. "Why? What are we going for?" She shrugged turning from him. "Thought you could meet people instead of being here alone." He followed her as she walked to the house shooting Aedin an evil look as he passed. "I don't need to meet people..." He turned his head from her. "I have you what more do I need?" He breathed just loud enough for her to hear. She blushed hopping up the steps to the porch. "You need more than one friend." He moved behind her placing his hands on her blue stained shoulders. "I have Spen-" His eyes went wide and he side stepped her, pulling the door open. He'd forgotten about him. "Wheatley!" Spencer flung himself feebly at the taller robot. Chell stood at the door watching as he knelt, fussing over the small android. She smiled softly leaning against the frame. He was really far too sweet. She still had no idea how someone so caring could have come from that place. She was still not as nice as she thought she should be. Still found it hard to shed the necessary shell she'd built back then. Being herself shouldn't be so difficult after five months of freedom. She folded her arms over her chest. He was the only person she truly let her guard down around. Even when she was still angry with him. She felt more relaxed with him than anybody else. Not even Aedin could fully lower her defenses. Not that she didn't like him. He was sweet, in his own way. Caring, helpful, sturdy. Painfully predictable. Not like Wheatley. Who was so vulnerable, impressionable. Wildly _unpredictable_. An open book with raised lettering and giant print. Not that you ever had to read him. He willingly spewed exactly what was on his mind at all times. Unperturbed, overly optimistic. Well, until he realized the situation was hopeless. He was needy and clingy and... She blinked. He was staring at her. "Something wrong Luv?" She blushed. Why? He'd called her that before. 'Yes, but you've never kissed him before have you?' She reminded herself. Sure, but she had only done that for him, right? She just wanted to show him that everything would be okay. No other reason, none at all.

"Er, so... what are we really going for anyway?" He didn't want to believe she was serious about the 'making friends' thing. She moved from the door, accepting the chance to stop herself from admitting anything. "_I _am going hunting. With Aedin." His face dropped. He couldn't quite remember the meaning of that word. His real concern was the last thing she had said anyway. "Why? Can't you go with out him?" She sighed. 'Here he goes again with his irrational jealousy.' Was it so irrational now though? "He's stronger than me." He scowled. Patting Spencers head and standing up. "Then bring me. I'm stronger than he is." She pulled an odd face. "You want to carry dead animals?" He grimaced, bunching up his shoulders. "That's horrid! Why are you going to kill them!?" She rolled her eyes walking over to the sofa. She had left all the clothes she'd brought for them on it. "We have to eat." He stuck out his tongue his disgusted expression getting worse. "That's horrible. Really. I'll never understand humans. Why would you want to eat something that can _bleed_?" She smirked picking out clothes for them. "Tastes good." He made a loud reaching noise. "I'm sorry, but you're really disturbing Luv." She dropped her head and laughed. He shifted uneasily. "Yea right, have a laugh okay, but at least I'm not the one killing innocent animals and shoving them in my mouth." She turned back to him the clothes she'd chosen draped over her arm. "What makes them so innocent?" His eyes went wide for a second before his whole face curled in deep thought. "Well... I mean for one... uh, well they don't kill things do they?" He smiled feeling he'd come up with a fantastic argument. She dropped to her knees next to him and Spencer. "Some of them do." He deflated. "Oh..." He plopped next to her defeated.

He stared inattentively as she pulled off Spencers sweater but grabbed her wrist when she started lifting his shirt up. "W-What are you doing?" She shook him away. "His clothes are gross." He laced his fingers nervously. "Yea but... we I mean, robots don't change clothes. T-That's silly isn't it? Not really a point is there?" She scrunched up her nose swiftly pulling Spencer shirt off with no protest. "They smell." Wheatley scratched his head. "Well a bit I guess but what if he doesn't want to change?" She sighed. "I think you do-" "I don't mind changing." Wheatley and Chell froze, turning slowly to the broad smiling yellow eyed boy. "Those clothes look nice." He said pointing to the floor where Chell had laid them. Wheatley reached out and grabbed his face. Mushing it in his hand. "W-What happened to you mate!?"

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**Note: Sorry this chapter is just as short as the last one. Don't know why I cant get back up to 4,000 words.**


	13. Me and You and That's STILL Disgusting

**Note: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnn nnnnnnnnnnd we are officially off hiatus! unfortunately i did have to totally re write this chapter but its still okay. Oh to that great suggestion i got. I totally would have done that but the story was exclusively on a USB which had become rather corrupt and i could not keep it working long enough to transfer a lot of the data. (Along with the story i lost quite a bit of art and several other stories that had no back up and i had not submitted to the internet.) So there was a lot of chair throwing and table flipping before i stopped being a total prat and rewrote this. I'll admit its a little rambly to explain Spencer and move us in to the next bit where Chell and Wheats set out on a mission together. So here we go. Thanks for sticking in there while i had my tantrum!**

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Wheatley paced the room dragging his hands through his hair. Nothing was making sense any longer. With the sudden addition to the voices in his head and his rapidly changing relationship with Chell, Wheatley found himself wishing more than anything to be wrong about Spencer. Just to have _one _less thing he didn't have to keep constant track of. Chell and Spencer sat on the couch staring as he wore a grove in to her floor. She patiently waited for him to find his voice again, since getting him to relax had been all but a failure. After a moment he turned to her. The confusion still obvious on his face.

"There's nothing wrong with him!" he puffed exasperated. She forced down a smile. That was the fifth time he'd made that observation. He was beginning to sound like a broken record. "I don't-" She started. "But that's _what's _wrong with him isn't it? He's not suppose to be so... _normal_! He's, he's _nutters_! Or he's suppose to be! He's _suppose _to be out of his mind, obsessed with space!" He threw his hands up, waving them wildly. She shrugged not knowing what to say. She was just as lost on Spencer's new-found coherence as he was. The little robot perked up, looking at Wheatley with large yellow eyes. "I still like space." He defended, finally joining the conversation. Wheatley covered his ears turning from him, looking a lot like an over grown child. "No! No! Don't talk! You can't say things like that! You, you cant make sense! Just, don't say anything unless it's about bloody space pirates or something!" Spencer bowed his head, frowning. Chell looked at him then back at Wheatley who was still yammering. "You're being rude." She said with a warning tone.

He stopped talking, though he had not heard her. He squinted, focusing on the thing closest to his face. He ripped his glasses off flipping them over in his hands. The answer had been literally right in front of his eyes the whole time. How could he have been so blind? Metaphorically blind anyway. "That's it! Blimey I've been so stupid!" He shouted smacking himself in the forehead with the heel his free hand. "Of _course_ it is!" He held the glasses in Chells face. "Its been here all along! Do you see!? Do you get it!?" He shook them at her for emphasis. She stared blankly at them. There was nothing remarkable about eyeglasses. She shook her head slowly, meeting his eyes again. "There's nothing-" "EXACTLY!" He yelled cutting her off again. "They're perfectly fine right?" He paused a moment allowing her to nod, though she was still lost on the point he was attempting to make. "That's the thing! They weren't, remember!?" He looked at her expectantly. Waiting for her to understand. She inspected them again. The frames were bent slightly but the glass was smooth. Besides a little dirt they were rather clean. She thought about what he said, thinking back to when she'd rescued him. They *_had_* been broken and scratched badly. One lens had, had a jagged crack from top left to bottom right. She looked up at him. "They're-" "I know!" He shouted whirling away from her and shoving them back on his face. She sighed. Was she ever going to get a word in? "Just like me! See here Luv!?" He yanked his shirt up to his face, making a spastic gesture to his torso. "No gashes, no scratches! Nothing! I'm better!" She blushed and avoided looking at him. Setting for the side window instead. From what she saw before turning away, the sparking gashes that had littered his torso before were definitely gone. Leaving his false skin smooth and mostly flawless. Wheatley dropped his shirt and continued his explanation. "Its the flipping nanobots! They finished up with me and went to him!" He pointed at Spencer who looked up with a shocked expression. "I mean the biggest thing wrong with him is his mind isn't it? Uh, you know, no offence mate, but you were a bit daft yea?" Spencer nodded, smiling absently. Wheatley turned back to Chell. "They're only programed to fix Aperture technology you know." He shook his head waggling his finger at her. "I _knew _he was acting strange! Saying words I never hear him use. Saying _my_ name!" Chell looked over at Spencer who was inspecting his hands. He had been acting differently if she thought about it. Wheatley had simply been Copilot the days they'd been in the wheat field, until Spencer suddenly started addressing him by name. Then there was last night. She hadn't even thought anything of it at the time. Spencer had slowly been becoming uncorrupted for a while hadn't he? Had he still been oblivious to everything other than space he wouldn't have made her rescue Wheatley from the hallway. She wondered if he would have even noticed he was upset. Why did he think she could make him better? How long had he been paying attention to the things around him?

Knocks echoed into the living room. "Chell?" She stood rushing over to it. She'd completely forgotten about Aedin. She pulled the door open. He smiled down at her looking hurt and impatient. "Hey, did you forget?" She smiled and shook her head. Before she could make a good excuse Wheatley started rambling loudly. "You know, it took them practically forever to fix me. Why did Spencer suddenly go from completely crazy to totally sane so quickly? I mean sure I was worse off when they started on me. Given the whole, torture thing but he was pretty touched wasn't he? More than a few days work wouldn't you think?" He spun around. Only now realizing Chell was no longer next to Spencer on the couch.

His bemused look instantly turned to a scowl when he saw Aedin in the doorway with her. "Oi! Mind butting out of our conversation mate?" He growled. Aedin glared back. "What is your problem with me?" Wheatley scoffed waving his hand. He wasn't in the mood to run off the long list of things he didn't like about him at the moment. He returned is attention to brunette. "Chell I-" "Hey, I was talking to you." Aedin interrupted loudly. "Who was talking to you?" Wheatley spat, raising his voice as well. Chell shot him warning look but he ignored her as Aedin moved past her stepping up to him straightening his back. He was a couple of inches shorter than Wheatley but still imposing considering he was more built then the thin android. Wheatley stood his ground determined to drive him away. **Thought you said you didn't care if he was here. **The foreign voice taunted. He shrugged it off, focusing on the ginger who began to speak. "Look, Chells friend or not you have no right to treat me like that." Wheatley rolled his eyes. He felt it fit as he'd seen Chell do it many times when she was uninterested or annoyed by something he said. "I can treat you how ever I want." He offered, scoffing again. Aedin looked appalled, his already red face getting redder. "Why is that?" He seethed through gritted teeth. Wheatley puffed up, a small smile playing on his lips. Elated to tell him *_exactly_* why. "Because I'm smarter than you and more important than you. You're just a smelly human. Inherently unimportant, and generally quite stupid compared to machines." He folded his arms over his chest as Aedins expression flip-flopped between resentment and confusion. "Wheatley shut up!" Chell hissed sternly. Had he already forgot about not telling people he was a robot? "No, what are you talking about?" Aedin demanded, looking back and forth between the two. Wheatley had begun to crumble under Chells angry look already. She turned to the confused man. "Ignore him he's just being an _idiot_." She deliberately over emphasised the word. Wheatley flinched, deflating completely, looking away from her. "Not an idiot..." He mumbled sadly to himself. Aiden watched them a second longer before deciding it best to leave. "Look, just meet me in town when you're done here. You know where I'll be." He left slamming the door behind him.

Chell rounded on Wheatley socking him in the arm. She didn't bother holding back. He yelped and jumped away from her. "Ow! T-That really hurt! A lot! What was that for!?" He wailed loudly, rubbing his arm. She shook her head and walked over to the couch. He knew why. Even if he didn't he'd either figure it out or settle with the fact that he _had _done something to deserve it. She picked up the clothes she had put there while he had been trying to figure out what was (or wasn't) wrong with Spencer. She threw them at him. "Change." She said shortly, storming up the stairs. Ignoring him when he threw a feeble apology her way. She stalked around her room throwing on her combats and some appropriate hunting gear. Dark green long pants and shirt. scantily spattered with flecks of blood from previous endeavors. She rummaged through her closet finally finding the slightly rusted, scoped rifle Seamus had given to her the first time they had gone hunting. 'A natural shot,' he'd called her when he presented it to her. She figured she should be. All the time she had spent shooting a gun. Even if it wasn't anything like a traditional one.

By the time she came back down the stairs Wheatley was wearing the powder blue polo and black pants she'd picked out for him along with his newly patched coat. He was sitting on the floor asking Spencer random questions. "How many fingers?" "Seven." "What's your favorite colour?" "Yellow." "Really?" "Sure." "Alright mate. I've always wanted to ask. What the hell do you like so much about space?" Spencer shrugged. "It's space." He scrunched his nose up. "My dad is there." He added as an after thought. Wheatley cocked his head. He seemed to recall Spencer saying something like that when he was still bonkers. More or less, it was really disjointed like everything else he'd said while they were trapped up there. Wheatley had ignored it at the time anyway. Chell walked over and ruffled Spencer's hair. "Let's go." Wheatley glanced up preparing another apology since she'd cast his previous one aside. Instead he screamed and backed away from her quickly. She tightened her grip on the gun, instinctively raising it to her side. She spun around looking for what made him scream. Her eyes darted around the room. She drummed her fingers on the rifle, sighing as she realized it had been her he screamed at. She let the barrel drop to the floor again wheeling to face him. Spencer was wide eyed trying to ask him what was wrong. The lengthy robot had some how managed to curl into a tight ball in the corner of the room. He was sputtering but managed to form a sentence. "I-I know your mad but you d-don't have to kill me okay!?" She gave an aggravated sigh. "Wheatley this is what I'm going hunting with." He slowly unfolded from the corner. Regarding her skepticaly "Y-You're not mad then?" She smiled, chuckling softly. "A little. Not enough to kill you though." He stood still shaking. "A-Alright then. You, you really scared me there Luv." He said laughing nervously. He still eyed the gun wearily as they left the house.

The hunt was much more successful than anticipated. After a few hours (and many, no so quiet, reaching noises and disgusted observations from Wheatley) Chell, Aiden, Seamus and Colin managed to pull well over forty pounds of meat collectively. "Still wish I knew how you became such an excellent shot." Seamus said with a laugh. She just shrugged. It was the best answer she had for most things. "Come now," Seamus urged. Something he was rarely apt to do. "You don't plug game square between the eyes without practice." Wheatleys voice piped up over the noise of scraping knives and squishing meat. "Of course she's had practice. Seamus looked over at him. His back was to them and he was fiddling with something Chell had handed to him to distract from the carnage. She had at first offered he leave and join Spencer and Amelia in Aedins backyard. He refused stating no reason as to why he'd rather stay when he seemed so close to vomiting. (Even if he physically could not.) She let it go, figuring it most likely had something to do with not leaving her with Aedin. So she'd handed him a puzzle cube. There would be no way he could figure it out. It would definitely keep him busy. Until he got too frustrated anyway. She hoped he wouldn't break it when he did. "She's had practice then?" Seamus asked intrigued. Wheatley turned his head slightly. "So much you may as well call her a master." Chell could practically hear the smile in his voice. What was he finding so amusing about this? Seamus turned back to her. "Where exactly did you get all this practice?" Chell cut too close to her finger. She shook her head hopping Wheatley would hold his tongue for once. Thankfully he did. Quietly to himself he mumbled: "Chell: Master of the Portal Gun." He chuckled at his joke for a second. She glanced at him, still wanting to know what was funny. After a stretch of silence the conversation went back to the task at hand. How much they would freeze. How much they would salt and preserve. How much Chell could take home.

Wheatley focused intently on the quad coloured cube. When he had been handed it and told what to do he didn't think it would take so much effort. Even when he managed to get a side one solid colour it just became rearranged again when he started on a new side. It was impossible he decided. Even more impossible than the hardest test Aperture could dish out. He wondered if the scientists knew about this thing. If they had they could have put this in the center of every chamber and called it a day. He grumbled to himself as another one of his perfect sides fell to ruin. Somehow he couldn't bring himself to stop fiddling with it. It was very addicting. **Really? You'll put your efforts in to a toy but not her?** He glared and worked harder on the cube. He didn't have to put his energy toward her. Not anymore. **You think just because you snogged her that means anything? **_I'm sure humans put a lot of meaning behind it. She's never done it before._**That's not saying much. She didn't even want to touch him before. **He shook his head sharply. What did it know? Chell had no problem with him now. Now they could have a proper, what was that word? Romantic... relationship... Yes the could have that. A real one. They already lived together. **Oh yes, and you can sleep in the same bed, get married,** What? **and make that crazy yellow eyed freak your surrogate son. **The cube make a sharp snap as he attempted to spin it the wrong way. Spencer wasn't a freak and what did surrogate mean? **If I know, then you know.** Whatever it meant, Spencer was his friend not his... son. That was just weird. Just because he was smaller than him, didn't mean he _was_ actually younger than him did it? Spencer could very well be as old as he was. However old that might be. Not even including the years and years he'd spent puttering around the dying facility before finding Chell. He acknowledged for a second that she probably had no idea how old she was either. She probably didn't even know when her birthing day was. He delved back in to the cube, shrugging away his thoughts, happy the voices had fallen silent.

Chell chopped meat steadily, though she was no longer looking at her hands. She studied Wheatley closely. He was perfectly still, hunching over his small multicoloured puzzle box. The only time he moved was to shake his head or roll his shoulders. She could hear him faintly grunt and curse as his hands moved over the cube rapidly. She gasped, shaking violently as something wrapped around her wrist. "Chell!" She looked down. Colin gripped her tightly, his brow furrowed looking worried and curious. He'd probably called her a few times. Her eyes fluttered back over to Wheatley who was turned slightly looking back at them. Her arm shook. She looked back at Colin. "I... Sorry. Yes?" He squinted finally releasing her wrist. "I said, you nearly cut your fingers off." She heard Wheatley gag. She glanced over as he took a few tentative steps over to the table they stood around. "Chell!" Colin shouted at her. She shook her head. She didn't know why she couldn't stay focused. "Sorry Coll..." She said feebly. Wheatley re-assumed his position as her shadow. "Time to go?" He said tugging at her rolled up sleeve. He held his hand over his nose. He wasn't sure why, as he could still perceive smell weather or not he did it. Seamus clapped his hands together. "I think he's right. You've had a long day why don't you head out?" Wheatley gave a relived sigh pocketing his puzzle and rushing out the back door for Spencer. Chell stood silent. Seamus smiled warmly. "I'll send Aedin with some meat later." His eldest son smiled nodding in agreement. She tore her eyes from the rear door. She nodded back grabbing a towel for her hands. She could wash them (and herself) properly when she got home. Spencer and Wheatley came flying back inside.

"Off we go, move, move!" Wheatley hissed grabbing her arm and dragging her to the front door. She waved awkwardly to the three Irish gentlemen and stumbled out of the house. "What's the rush?" She asked trying to free herself from Wheatleys impressive grip. He broke into a run while giving her a speedy, long winded explanation. "Alright, so you know how I said the nanobots are programed to fix any broken Aperture tech they come across?" She nodded feeling she already knew what he was going to say next. "Well when I went to get Spencer I have a brainwave. What it, what if they didn't wait to fix me before going to him? What if they split into groups? What if they're already trying to fix the cube now that its broken!?" She picked up her pace. She had toyed with that notion since Wheatley came up with the explanation for Spencer's normalcy.

They sprinted back to the house quickly. Spencer watched them inspect the cube for signs of repair. Staying well away from it at Chells behest. "Does it look better than before?" I really don't even remember you even doing this to it to be honest." She frowned looking at him worriedly. She wished she knew what it had done to them. If it would have any lasting effects and if so what they might be. "We need to move it." She suggested. "Yea okay... but where?" She put her hands on her hips still eyeing it closely. It had to be far. Somewhere no one could find it, so even if it did come back online it couldn't bother anyone. She just wasn't sure anyplace was far enough or secluded enough for that. There was a sizable wood behind her house but... "Where Chell!?" Wheatley urged impatiently. She bit her lip. The woods were where Haven inhabitants hunted. They'd have to go pretty far in to hide it. She honestly had no idea how deep the woods went or what lay beyond the several hundred meters she was familiar with. She thought quickly about what she was considering. She didn't need that thing here if or when it did boot back up. If it could be helped she'd like to keep it dead and away from any of the two other robots nanos. "Luv?" Wheatley whispered. She turned, waving her hands slowly. "Stay." She grabbed Spencer and rushed in the house. She lead him to the sofa, sitting him down. "Stay." She said again but much less a request as it was a command for him. She ran upstairs and grabbed her compass. It was more than likely they could get lost. She took the stairs three at a time on the way down. She repeated her command to Spencer before opening the door. "Chell?" She stopped, her breath catching. "Be careful..." She turned giving him her best reassuring smile. "Won't be long." She assured stepping out on to the porch and shutting the door. Her smile lingered. She wasn't sure he would ever use her name. She realized that she had been subconsciously worried he did not like her as much as his fellow android.

Wheatley walked over to her as she stepped away from the door. He had already tied a cord around the cube and slung it over his shoulder. "What are we doing with it anyway?" She shrugged walking to the backyard. He followed. "You do have a plan don't you because I'll be honest I have no idea what to do." She nodded. She did have the beginnings of a plan. Even if she hadn't worked out too much of it. The best thing to do was just wing it and figure it out as they went. They walked past her garden and into a patch of wheat separating them from the semi-dense forest. "Did you know this stuff is called wheat?" Wheatley said after a moment. She smiled and nodded. "One of the children in town told me that while you were off killing things. They were laughing when I said this but I think its pretty cool to have a whole plant named after me." He paused. "Even if it is pretty useless." His voice tapered off and after a minute he added in a much more subdued voice. "Then again I guess we're a lot alike in that respect." She looked over at him as he stared down at the ground. The light from his eyes duller than normal. "You're not useless." She said reaching out and giving his hand a light squeeze. He shrugged. "Yea, well if your specifically looking to break or ruin something I'm your guy." She sighed. What happened to the intense superiority complex he had earlier with Aedin? Could he really only be confident when overcome with jealousy? She clasped her hands behind her back, somewhat eager to test her theory.

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**Note: like I said a bit rambly rambles but hopefully enjoyable all the same.**


	14. Off is Scary

**Note: The chapter I was originally planing I have to rework entirely so... here's something to hold you over. Till I... do... that**

**Eventually.**

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Spencer sat in front of the thing Wheatley always called 'telly' and played with the nobs. There were always strange and sometimes interesting things flickering over the rounded glass. He fiddled with the nobs some more. Finally he decided that there would be no space on it this time and stood up. He thought about turning it off but decided not to. He'd feel really bad if someone turned him off. He figured the telly might be sad when it went off too. Besides, Lady and Co-pilot never turned it on or played with it. It might be lonely. He nodded at it, smiling while the strange people on its face laughed and talked about things he didn't really understand. He turned from it. Taking in the living room. It seemed different somehow. Though a part of him understood it was not it that had changed. He walked around. Everything seemed brighter. Or more definite, he wasn't sure. With the hazy veil of corruption lifted, everything seemed new and just as interesting as if he was seeing it for the first time.

He walked in to the next room. Chell came in here often. There was a lot of silver stuff in it. He smiled in to one of the biggest things. Its shiny surface was very reflective. He had never really seen himself before. Boy his eyes sure did look dull. They were suppose to be yellow weren't they? Gosh he loved the colour yellow! Stars were yellow. There weren't a lot of yellow things around here. He frowned slightly. At least stars were yellow! He turned exiting the kitchen. He forgot about space for a second. He walked to the window by the large black seat. That thing was fun to jump on. It was getting rather dark out. Dark was a bit scary. It also meant space. He jumped up happily as he scanned the sky from the window. Was that a star!? He ran to the front door. He reached out for it but stopped. A word echoed through his head. 'Stay!' Lady had looked very serious when she said that. It made him nervous. What were they out doing? He hopped they wouldn't be with that scary cube for long. It wasn't a very good cube at all. As he decided it be best to sit back down an odd sound hit his audio processors. He jumped. Whirling around to face the door again. The sound happened once more. This time he move toward the door. It never moved unless someone made it move. He was also pretty sure it wasn't a robot. So how could it- The noise sounded again. He grabbed the doorknob trying to remember what people did when greeting things from behind doors.

He pulled it open, smiling widely. "Who are you!?" He said cheerfully. Aiden looked down and smiled. "Uh, hey little man." Spencer wasn't sure this human knew proper door etiquette at all. That didn't sound the the right thing for him to say. "So Spencer right?" Aiden asked. Spencer nodded briskly. The man looked around. "Is Chell here?" Spencer shook his head. Aiden frowned. "Is that other guy here?" Spencer tipped his had to the side. "Wheatley?" Aiden nodded, frowning harder. "Lady and Co-pilot are on a secret mission." He put his finger to his lips and made a soft shooshing noise. Aiden half smiled. "May I come in?" He held out a bag, it looked like it was dripping. "I don't want this to spoil." Spencer wasn't sure letting him in was a good idea but Chell always seemed okay with the red human, so he stepped aside and let him walk in. Aiden disappeared in to the silver room for a moment then came back out.

He smiled at Spencer. "Thanks little man. Can you tell Chell I was here?" Spencer smiled and nodded. "Cccchhhhhhhccccchhhh." He put his hands over his mouth. Why couldn't he talk? Why was everything getting so dark? Weren't the lights on? Aiden walked up to him cautiously. "Little man? What's wrong with your eyes?" Spencer put his hand over them. He couldn't see anymore. Aiden grabbed his shoulders. "Whoa Spencer your eyes are, are black! What's wrong with you!?" He tried to answer but the static sound came out again. He dropped to his knees shaking. He didn't want to turn off. Being off was the most frightening thing ever. It was all black and quiet and there was no one to talk to. He finally had friends that didn't constantly tell him to be quiet. He didn't want to leave them now. Now that he could properly talk back. Aiden shouted something but he couldn't accurately pick up sound anymore. He couldn't feel. There was nothing.

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**Note: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahaha... oh ohhh I mean uhhh... yea sorry about that... **


	15. Artist Apology Note

**Artist Notes: Okay look for reasons I wont bore you with the other day I was pretty under the impression I would never finish this story or even uh be back on this site... hmm so to amend my previous statement. While this is still on hiatus it is just temporary. Until I stop... being a prat. I really like this story so I will be updating it sooner or later. I know its super annoying that I have killed and revived this story so many times... I apologize please just bare with me.**


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